reality buffer: FULL

I'm trudging back up the blasted hillside to where hopefully Dirt is still waiting with Torch. I can't see him, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't mean anything. The annoying display in front of me refuses to go away, though.

ding

...that's right. Box said he'd make those annoying sounds if I didn't clear the buffer right away. Fine. I focus on the box.

Establishing new reality baseline... waiting for quantum observer collapse...

You have two infinity expressions available

Choose one of the following:

Increased Damage (this makes us hurt things more)

Increased Attack Speed (this makes us able to hurt things quicker)

Avoidance (1) (this allows us to get hurt more without having to retreat; don't pick it)

Life Regeneration (this allows us to heal more quickly using the same amount of biomass; don't pick it)

Increased Movement Speed (this allows us to move quicker; don't pick it yet)

Hmm. There are more options now. Also, this box sucks to look at.

That is because you opened up more possible expressions of yourself when you expanded into Avoidance last time. It becomes 'easier,' for lack of a better word, to expand into related infinities the more you express yourself in that direction. However, some infinities require you to increase your expression in that particular subset before others open up.

"...so if I decided to choose Avoidance again, I'd get better at it again, and open up even more options?"

Basically, yes, but you're not going to pick Avoidance again, right? We talked about this. We need to make damage numbers go up.

"Fine, fine. Which one should I choose, then? Damage or attack speed?"

For now, Attack Speed. The reality anchor will likely be surrounded by more swarms of violations, and our current weapon is already strong enough to take them down efficiently. We need to be able to thin them out more quickly.

I skirt one of the still smoldering craters. It looks like something took a bite out of the ground.

"Can't we just use that big explosion thingie you did? That seemed to work pretty well."

Manifesting our own non-causal violations is energy intensive, and requires substantial downtime between uses. At your current integration level, you can use HipDraw once every thirty seconds, which is an eternity in combat. Don't be afraid to use it when necessary, but you won't be able to rely on it for everything.

I guess that makes sense. I concentrate on the 'Increased Attack Speed' choice.

Observer collapse initiated... Attack Speed increased by 2%. You have one infinity expression available

Choose one of the following:

Increased Damage (this makes us hurt things more)

Increased Attack Speed (1) (this makes us able to hurt things quicker)

Avoidance (1) (this allows us to get hurt more without having to retreat; don't pick it)

Life Regeneration (this allows us to heal more quickly using the same amount of biomass; don't pick it)

Increased Movement Speed (this allows us to move quicker; don't pick it yet)

Increased Pierce Chance (this allows us to hit more than one thing with a single attack; don't pick it yet)

I'm really beginning to dislike that box.

"Why are the numbers so small, Box? Two percent doesn't seem like it'll do much."

Pick Attack Speed again, and you'll see.

Observer collapse initiated... Attack Speed increased by 4%. Current Attack Speed increase is 6%

reality buffer: 0%

"...the attack speed number got bigger. But like, bigger than it got bigger before."

You see? As you expand yourself in each particular infinity, you access progressively more of it, and become better able to use what it offers. There are diminishing returns for general gains after a certain point, but other options then become available. These are infinities, after all.

"I guess I'll figure it out as we go." I reach the crest of the hill and look around. "Hey, Dirt, you still here? Box says it's safe for now."

A small boulder stands up, the mottled grays and browns resolving into Dirt's cloak. He's cradling a long rifle in his hands, and streaks of dark red, almost black, cake the front of his face. It looks like he's been weeping rivers of blood, and his eyes are puffy and bruised.

"Tried to help," he says hoarsely as he walks closer. "Wasn't able to as much as I wanted. It was... difficult."

He accounted for five kills, which frankly is almost unbelievable for a non-integrated human. He's lucky he didn't suffer a stroke.

"Box says not to push yourself," I tell him. As he stumbles to a halt, I see he's swaying on his feet, like he's not quite sure if the ground is there or not. "Whoa, hey, you should sit down. Where's Torch?"

I help him into a seated position, his back against a boulder, and Dirt points to a lump of barren earth. I walk over to it, and when I get close enough, it turns into another cloak, nearly indistinguishable from the ground. I flip it up to reveal Torch still passed out, gently snoring while blowing a spit bubble. I tuck some of the cloak under her head to make her more comfortable, then return to Dirt and sit beside him.

"How many of those cloaks do you have?"

"Three for this season, but they act as six." He shows me the inside of his bouldercloak, which is the same dark green of the one he was wearing earlier. "See? Reversible. Saves space." He tilts his water flask to his mouth with shaking hands and takes a sip. "So. Unknown variables." He shakes his head with a bemused grin, white teeth flashing beneath the dried blood. "More 'unknown' than I was expecting. Glad you were here. Torchie would have died. I would have died. Broom would have died." He chuckles. "Guess that makes you the Chief Idiot now."

I giggle at the thought of trying to order Broom around. Dirt's humor is infectious, and releases some of the stress still pooling in my stomach.

"I'm not an Idiot," I poke at him in mock anger, "I'm a Memoriam. I had to convince them to let me come out here. I'm more interested in the past, remember?"

"Makes you a perfect Idiot. Just like Book. That's what she told everyone too. Hey Torchie," he calls, "what do you think? Is Sky an Idiot?"

Soft snores are the only answer, and we both start laughing again.

"Torchie's going to be so mad that she slept through a fight. Especially a fight a rookie had to win. You better watch out when she wakes up. Probably put soap in your soup."

"Oh, she's competitive? High sense of self esteem?" I roll my eyes. "I couldn't tell."

"She hides it well. Good thing she was asleep," Dirt says, turning serious. "Would've tried to join you. Can't help herself. Definitely an Idiot. Just like you."

"Yeah, yeah," I agree good-naturedly, letting my head lean back against the sun-warmed rock. It feels nice, and the clouds are beautiful overhead, scudding slowly through the sapphire sky. The sun is just past its highest point, beginning the long fall to earth, and I close my eyes, sucking in a deep breath. How can it be so peaceful when just minutes ago it was so violent? Am I allowed to enjoy it?

The dichotomy of conflict, Sky. Now, as glad as I am that your mental state has recovered naturally, I need to point out the reality anchor is still nearby. We should take advantage of our victory while we can, before it starts manifesting more violations.

I open my eyes and sigh.

"Box says we should track down the anchor," I tell Dirt quietly. "Until I take it out, more of those things are going to keep appearing."

"It's over there." He points at a jumble of rocks halfway up a distant cliff, barely visible from where we sit. I gape at him.

"...how do you know?"

He shrugs.

"Dirt doesn't look right. Also, no birds. Was an old Glowbeast cave, turned into a bird cave when we hunted down the Glowbeast. Take a look."

He offers the scope of his rifle to me and I squint through it, trying to find the rockfall, but I can't seem to hold it steady enough, or I'm looking in the wrong areas.

We don't need the scope, Sky. If you'll allow me? Just look at the rocks.

I let the scope drop.

"...sure."

I focus on the distant landmark, details obscured, and then my eyes twitch strangely. Suddenly, it's like I'm looking at it from barely ten strides away, everything appearing in crystal-sharp clarity.

"Whoa."

I'm an integrator, Sky, which means-

"-yeah, yeah, you integrate all of my body. Thanks, Box. Look, I think Dirt is right."

The ground around the rockfall seems off, as if it can't quite decide what it wants to be until I direct my attention at it. Wherever I focus seems normal, but in the blurred corners of my vision I keep seeing flashes of landscapes that don't belong - dead winter wastelands, overgrown jungles filled with bloody trees, a chalky surface that wriggles like it's composed of a trillion tiny creatures, and those are just the ones I can put words to.

The shadows behind the rockfall are filled with things I definitely don't have words to describe. They're not there, but at the same time, they are, and they shouldn't be there.

Well spotted, Dirt. Those are textbook signs of a reality anchor. Normally violations only have enough energy to affect their immediate forms, but anchors radiate a zone of causal boundary dissolution that warps spacetime itself. It's what draws in the violations - makes it easier for them to manifest. Does Dirt know how deep the cave behind the rocks is?

"Box wants to know how big the Glowbeast lair is. We're pretty sure the anchor is in there."

"Knew the dirt didn't look right. Here."

Dirt grabs one of the smaller knives from his belt and starts scratching in the loose soil of the hilltop. Before long, a crude map appears, several snaking lanes that branch out before coming back together into a small oval.

"Burrow splits just after the entrance. Keep to the inside wall and it'll circle back around. Outside wall openings are dead ends. Main burrow is halfway around the circle, opens up into a cavern. No light except what you bring."

"Will that be a problem, Box?"

I don't know, Sky, what am I?

"Sheesh, fine, sorry for interrupting you earlier. You're an integrator. We'll be fine without light," I add for Dirt's benefit. "What about you?"

Dirt sighs, then begins pulling various weapons from beneath his cloak and lining them up on the ground. When he's done, there are three knives of various sizes, the longest almost an oddly curved short sword, two pistols, a stocky sub-machine gun, and the long rifle he was carrying earlier.

"I won't survive in there," he says simply, letting his hands fall to his sides. "Take what you feel you need, and I'll make a camp for your return. If you don't return, I will take Torchie and tell the village we need to relocate."

"Relocate?" I reply in a shocked voice. "The village has been there forever, Dirt! What about the trees?"

"Saplings can be replanted. Homes can be rebuilt. People aren't as easy. It has been done before."

...now I really want to see whatever records the Idiots have tucked away in their Archive. There's nothing in the Shrine of Memory that even hints at the village having moved before.

Tell Dirt not to worry, Sky. If I feel you are at risk of permanent death, I will evacuate us back to the village. Unfortunately, I will need to replace biomass if that happens.

"Box says not to worry about us," I say slowly, thinking about all the possible risks of failure. "As long as you keep your camp far enough away so you're not noticed, I can come back even if I fail to remove the anchor. I'm not going to fail, though," I add in a fierce tone. "I'm going to protect the village. All of it."

Dirt examines me for a long moment, his bloodshot eyes piercing my own, then nods.

"I am not willing to touch the hot stove that is entering the cave, but I will risk trusting you, Sky Idiot."

"I'm not an-"

He interrupts my protestation, voice deadly serious.

"As of this moment, you are an Idiot, because only an Idiot would willingly face whatever lies inside that place in the hopes of keeping others safe. Teach us what you can."

He says the last part solemnly, as if reciting the last words at a tree planting, and I realize I've heard that phrase before.

"...remember what I find? Is that how it goes?"

Dirt's eyebrows raise.

"How do you know the Idiot's Prayer?"

"Uhm, Broom said what you just said to Torch this morning, and that's what Torch said back. I figured it was like a farewell or something."

"It is a farewell, and a promise. We say it whenever we find something new, because someone has to be the first one to eat the melty rock, and we all eventually find our own melty rock. Our promise to them is that there will not need to be a second. That is what it means to be an Idiot."

I gulp. Now that I think about it, there aren't many stories of Idiots dying from old age.

You are worrying too much again, Sky. We'll be fine. Based on Dirt's information, the anchor's sphere of influence is only ninety meters, and that's the worst case scenario. Serious reality breaches can encompass tens of kilometers of space, if not thousands.

...'meters?'

...two point six eight scrumbles, and if time travel wasn't impossible, I'd go back and find whoever built your math knowledge base and end them.

Dirt ignores my brief one-sided conversation and beckons towards the line of weapons.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"Now, what will help you most? I have limited ammunition for the guns," he apologizes. "Only so much room in the pack, and Torchie was in a hurry."

Ammunition is not a problem. The infinity where you have remaining rounds is so vast as to be functionally limitless, even amongst other limitless infinities. I recommend either the kukri or the MP5X - both will serve better than your pistol in the cave.

...what?

A yellow outline appears around the curved short sword and the sub-machine gun. Small strings of numbers hover over each one, some green, some red, but I have no idea what any of them mean.

Normally you'd have several years of training in how specific weapons interact with your infinity expressions, but we'll have to make do. The kukri hits harder, but requires you to be up close and personal. I can also use it while you dash. The MP5X fires very quickly, but doesn't do much individual damage per round. However, if you decide to expand into non-causal ammunition infinities, it will inflict them extremely fast. Either one will work well for our current purposes.

"Uhm, I guess I'll take the sword," I say, reaching for the curved blade Box called a 'kukri.' Guns are useful for hunting and protection, but knives are more versatile in everyday life. It's almost impossible to dress a deer with a rifle, or cut a rope with a pistol, not to mention the nail-trimming limitations.

As I'm about to pick it up, a portion of my limb extends out from my wrist, grabbing the weapon. It shivers briefly, then both my limb and the sword disappear. Dirt and I share perplexed stares.

Attunement in progress...

I am aligning the kukri's potential to your infinities. Objects share the same multiversal infinities as you, except they cannot collapse their own observer states to alter those infinities, even with an integrator. They lack the quantum interactions of sophonts.

With a slight pop, my pistol appears in the same place the curved sword occupied. Our confusion grows, Dirt's likely at the vanishing and reappearing weapons, my own at Box's incomprehensible explanation.

However, since we are currently limited to one limb, we can only attune one weapon at a time. If you keep the pistol with you, I can re-attune it at a later point, but I would not recommend doing so during combat unless you feel extremely confident in our safety. Our aggressors will not show mercy if they find us unarmed.

I hesitantly grab the pistol, then hold it close for examination. Despite how many shots Box fired through it recently, it looks immaculate.

Weapon maintenance, of course, is not a problem.

I'm pretty sure Box is being smug. I check to make sure the pistol is safely unloaded, then tuck it into my backpack. Great Grandpa will kill me if I lose it. That pistol has been in our family for generations.

Attunement completed. Removing HipDraw.exe. NothingPersonnel.exe available

...now what.

Different weapons have different non-causal expressions. Unlike HipDraw, you can use NothingPersonnel every fifteen seconds. It is significantly less taxing on our reality draw.

"As if any of that made sense," I mutter, pushing myself to my feet. "Guess I'll keep figuring it out as I go."

"You're sure you don't want to take anything else?" Dirt asks, looking up at me from his seated position against the boulder. "One knife against a cave of monsters is bold even for an Idiot."

"It'll be fine. If Box says that's all we need, then it's all we need."

While I am flattered by your faith in my judgement, I would feel far more comfortable with a Ragnorak-class multi-dimensional kinetic pulser and several disintegration flails, along with far more infinity expressions opened up. The kukri is adequate for what we have to work with, but there's no such thing as too much firepower when it comes to dealing with non-causal violations.

"...we'll be fine. Where should I meet you and Torch when we're done in the cave?"

"You remember where we rested? Outskirts of the forest? Head there and I'll find you." Dirt pushes himself to his feet with a groan. "Time to clean everything up. C'mon, Torchie," he yells at the snoring woman still passed out on the ground. "You were right - I love this." She continues sleeping, and he starts packing away the weapons. I take a step towards the distant rockfall, then pause.

"You're sure you'll be okay carrying everything, along with Scout Torch?"

"Psh. We're Idiots. You go fight the monsters with just a knife. The day I can't carry Torchie and my gear is the day they plant a tree over me for being dead."

I snort. I wish I'd gotten to know Dirt sooner. I like his style. Hopefully we can hang out more when the village is safe.

"Okay. Be back soon."

I turn and start running for the distant cliff, the ground falling away beneath my bounding strides.

You should use dash. It will help to practice with it, and will make us arrive sooner.

"I can do that?"

Why wouldn't you be able to? It's part of who you are now, Sky.

...huh. I guess I didn't really think of dash as anything other than a combat ability. It feels... weird, somehow, to just casually defile the universe in order to cut down on some travel time.

"Okay then."

dash

I almost collide with a rock, and I'm pretty sure it's Box's reflexes that shoot me into a front flip over its suddenly looming bulk. Okay, maybe I do need to practice using dash. I try using it again, but an error message box pops up in front of me.

"Why can't I use dash more than once in a row, Box?"

For the same reason why you can't manifest non-causal violations back to back. It takes me time to recalibrate where we are amongst the infinities of the multiverse. Generally, the more non-causal the effect, the longer the cooldown period. Luckily, dash only violates a few natural laws that no one important cares about anyways, so it doesn't take more than a few seconds to finish its cooldown.

Sure enough, another box appears telling me that dash is ready again.

"These boxes are kind of annoying. Is there a different way to let me know when it's ready?"

Sure. You want a visual, audio, or tactile cue?

"What's the difference?"

Visual means I'll put a color indicator somewhere it won't interfere with your normal point of view. Audio will be a sound. Tactile will be a physical sensation, like feeling hungry, or energetic.

"Visual, please."

A green haze appears at the edge of my vision, faint enough so that it doesn't occlude anything, but I can tell it's there. I use dash again and the haze shifts to light red. After a few seconds, it smoothly shifts back into green.

"Okay, yeah, that will work. Thanks."

I spend the next ten minutes practicing dash while I sprint towards the rockfall, and learn a few things. First, dash always moves me a set distance-

Five meters.

-but won't physically place me inside something else. I do keep some momentum, though, which I discover after dashing directly at another rock and then tripping over it when I appear right in front. Second, dash's cooldown is as close to three seconds as I can tell-

It's exactly three seconds.

-which allows me to use it liberally, but not carelessly. Third, I don't have to look where I'm dashing, it's totally omnidirectional, but combined with the first fact makes me realize I need to work on my situational awareness. dashing to the side to avoid an attack won't help if I end up falling on my butt or stepping into a hole. I wonder if there's a way to make it feel more natural?

There are infinities involving dash, yes, but they don't make damage numbers go up so you should just forget about them now.

By the time I reach the base of the cliff holding the anchor's cave, I'm feeling slightly more confident in my ability to use dash effectively. To my surprise, it's also a lot of fun. Being able to dart around all over the place makes me feel like a little one again, and I'm grinning as I come to a halt in front of the steep slope.

Try and keep that good mood. Once the anchor realizes it's under attack, it's going to start fighting back. We need to get to it as quickly as possible, before it can warp things around us too much.

"What happens if we take too long?"

The boundary between your reality and the multiverse frays even more, and Bad Stuff starts taking an interest. More potent non-causal violations, dangerous environmental alterations, even direct attacks on your perception of reality itself. Once we get rid of the anchor, everything else will be forced back to where it came from, so don't let yourself get distracted - our goal is to neutralize it as quickly as possible. We also don't have access to any biomass other than what's in my reserves, so try not to let us take too much damage.

"So, what, we go in and I sprint right for it? Speaking of which, how am I going to see? Dirt said it was dark in there."

That's the plan, and I'll alter your eyesight. I can recreate the effects of your glow light with our limb, and that'll give us plenty of illumination.

"...where is my glow light?"

I needed biomass to extract you last night without leading everything straight to your village, and I used literally anything I could find. Most of it was Corporate Marauders, but that wasn't nearly enough.

Wait. Biomass is people?!

Among other things. This is one of those topics we're going to have to not argue about, Sky. You need biomass to survive, especially if you take damage. Anything that isn't a violation is going to be a source of biomass.

My good mood evaporates, and I'm once again reminded of the grim reality of my new existence.

Sorry. I was going to tell you at some point, when you weren't as overwhelmed with new information.

"Whatever," I snarl, charging up the slope. "Let's go kill some monsters."

My limb materializes next to me, kukri blade angled outward, bone-white segments glowing a faint purple, and I dash at the rockfall, looking for a way through. To my shock, I go completely through the solid pile of rubble, reappearing in a narrow passageway that looks clawed from the earth.

Apparently the fourth important fact about dash is that it allows me to pass through obstructions if there's enough space on the other side.

Unfortunately, that other side is crawling with grotesquely squirming sinuous forms. My kukri lashes out instantly, cleaving the nearest two apart, and then the others react, some leaping forward, others scuttling along the walls and ceiling. I watch them get closer, waiting for the edges of my vision to shift from red to green, Box dispatching the closest ones with merciless efficiency. A pseudopod streaks towards my face, and then red finally turns green and I dash forward again.

I warp through the flailing mass of violations and emerge on the other side, Box carving three more into swiftly evaporating mist directly along our passage. Huh. That's useful.

...told you... the kukri's advantage... can attack while dashing...

I take advantage of the momentary lull to scan the area. The rough walls, bearing clear marks of Glowbeast talons, are wide enough for some lateral movement, and up ahead I see a splitting fork in the passage. I start sprinting for it, hearing the dread whispers of unnatural flesh slither over the rock behind me.

"Right or left?!"

...doesn't... matter... both lead... to the chamber...

"And what if the anchor isn't in there?" I growl, darting down the left branch of the fork. A mass of violations leaps at me from a narrow side opening and we cut through them in a welter of miasmic ichor and thudding pseudopod impacts.

Current Life: 190/250

I emerge from the other side with bruises over my face and chest, blood trickling from one ear. There wasn't any room to dodge.

Redistributing biomass... projecting biomass totals... projected 72% remaining biomass after Life restoration

"...hey, wait, I have more life?"

Another cluster of warped shapes spill out of the darkness, trying to clog the path with sheer mass. I dash through them, kukri flickering all around in a web of steel.

reality buffer: 37%

Current Life: 170/250

Redistributing biomass... projecting biomass totals... projected 58% remaining biomass after Life restoration

A serpentine extension lashes up from the floor, catching me in the side. I hear a cracking sound, and lancing pain immediately stabs through me. Probably some ribs. I push forward anyways, doing my best to ignore the hurt.

Current Life: 145/250

Redistributing biomass... projecting biomass totals... projected 41% remaining biomass after Life restoration

...try... taking... less... damage...

"Oh yeah, why didn't I think of that," I gasp, narrowly dodging another probing strike from the seemingly endless amounts of creatures by leaning back so far my hair almost touches the dirt floor. "I don't know if you noticed, but there's not much room here!"

The kukri slices through more of the horde as I dash again, but another wave is waiting on the other side. I focus on them, flexing that strange mental muscle I used to activate HipDraw.

Executing NothingPersonnel.exe

I feel... empty, like something I didn't know was there isn't there anymore. The passageway, on the other hand, is suddenly even more crowded, humanoid shapes that shouldn't fit somehow lurking behind each of the violations. Wait, those all look like me!

The figures open their mouths too wide, baring the same terrible flash of too many teeth. Eye-watering blades covered in endless edges rip ragged tears in the fabric of sanity, and the violations melt away, revealing a clear path to a larger opening. Something flows back into me, like a centipede darting back into an empty orbital socket.

I decide to worry about it later, pushing myself back into a run. The noise from behind is like a waterfall of nightmares and it keeps getting closer. The squelching sounds of the kukri hitting flesh keeps a monotone pace to my mad scramble.

...almost... there...

I emerge into the cavern, desperately looking around for the anchor.

"Oh shit."

Found the anchor.

A hulking amalgamation of blackened bones covered in weeping eyes lurches up from its crouching stance against the back wall. Each eye has been punctured by something, a disgusting green pus leaking from their cloudy orbs, and the bones make an unnatural clattering sound even when the thing isn't moving. A disgustingly thick purple tongue slips out from between a gap in the bones, then another, and another, and another. Tiny mouths open at the end of each slobbering muscle, and a chorus of shrilling voices echoes through the room.

"RETURN. REJOIN"

...oh shit. Sky, we need to kill it now. The reality draw here just spiked.

I don't bother responding, instead throwing myself at the abomination. Ugly white flames burst into life along all the eyes, and the chittering mouths screech in a mixture of pain and joy. I dash through it, my kukri severing two of the tongues, and the screeches turn to ground-shaking bellows. As I look back, a tidal wave of violations pours into the cavern from both entrances, thrashing at each other in their haste to reach me, the walls themselves melting into terrible views of unfamiliar skies.

Distracted by the altered environment, it takes me a second to notice the lurid crimson light flaring into existence around me, a sphere centered on my stomach. It extends for three of Box's 'meters' in each direction.

Sky! Run-

Pain assails me from every direction, types of pain I didn't even know could exist. The monster carves daggers from my worst memories and plunges them through my spine, using the nerve signals to weave a boiling lake of regret that quickly unravels my sense of self into decohering shreds of abyssal nothing. I feel the concept of 'I' falling away...

Current Life: 2/250. WARNING: Biomass reserves exhausted

"Stupid... fucking... boxes..."

I gather together everything I can lay hands on - Wires' death, my lack of parents, my frustration with Box - and use it to make my feet take one more step. Then another.

dash

The anchor's last two tongues fall to the ground, flapping uselessly, and the chorus of brain-piercing voices falls silent. I ignore the horde of violations rushing at me beneath misbegotten skies of nauseating flesh, and stumble around to face the rattling abomination. Its milky-white eyes are blazing up again, that sickly light gathering from suns best left unseen. I point my finger.

Executing NothingPersonnel.exe

A copy of me appears behind each eye, warping my perceptions with their impossible existence, then too many teeth flash in those awful smiles. Fractal edges shred existence into confetti once more.

reality buffer: FULL

The countless eyes spray boiling gouts of pus into the air, the noxious fluids defying gravity to rise up to the ceiling where they eat away stone in honeycomb hisses. Blackened bones rattle one last time, then collapse to the ground, sloughing into non-existence. A gently pulsing tessaract hangs in the space the anchor just vacated. I gaze blankly at it, and then it shoots across the intervening distance and slams into my chest without touching a single part of my body.

Non-causal node absorbed. Restoring Impossibility Matrix

The slithering rush of flesh from behind cuts off like a stilled heartbeat. As I fall forward, I see that the violations have all vanished, leaving the cavern cold and empty. Just before I hit the ground, my limbs shoot out to either side, bracing me with immovable bone-white segments.

"Oh," I say weakly, turning my head to each side, "we have another one now. Hooray."

Then I let myself black out.