Retrieving the rest of the incognito field materials goes without incident, and we're soon heading back to the village in the now-battered Hellhound. It lurches occasionally in the air, but the straps on my seat keep me in place.

"Why's it doing that?" I ask Violet.

"Leak in the deuterium line. It's letting contaminants into the plasma flow. Probably from when one of those fucked up geometry bats tried to eat the engine."

"...okay. Is it a problem?"

"Nah. These shuttles are built to take a couple hits, and Corgia nailed the violation with an id melt before it did too much damage."

The dog barks from its place on her lap, and she scratches behind its ears.

"Who's a good murdermutt, yes you are," she coos, the dog's eyes blazing hellfire above a happily panting mouth. "Such a good destructopup."

ding

I roll my eyes. Of course Box wants attention too.

I do not want attention, I want you to make us stronger. So we can keep that irritating woman out of my mind.

"...if you say so, Box." Violet eyes askance at me and I shrug. "Box is jealous I'm not letting it make numbers go up while you play with your integrator." She smiles weakly.

"So, uh, you figured out Corgia's my integrator, huh?"

I roll my eyes again.

"You didn't exactly try to hide it. 'Corgia, do this. Corgia do that.'" A wispy weapon framework starts building out of the dog's left shoulder and I giggle. "See? That's like the fifth time your dog has done that, and while I'm still not sure what a 'dog' is, I'm pretty sure that's not normal behavior for one."

"...says the person with a 'cat' that violates the laws of physics whenever it feels like it. What is that thing anyways?"

"Who, Pete? Pete's an Entity."

Violet's eyes widen, and Pete takes that moment to saunter out of my shadow and sit on the shuttle floor between us, tails lashing in indeterminate numbers. It yawns, then separates into Petes on every available surface, all in different states of repose, almost all of them somehow indulgently obscene without crossing the line into bad taste. Corgia's ears flatten back. I look around in wonder.

"...huh. I didn't know Pete could do that."

All the Petes coalesce back into one Pete, who flaunts its butthole at Violet before striding back into my shadow.

dominance asserted. naptime

I try not to laugh at Violet's contorted expression.

"Pete's really a big softy once you get to know it. I think it likes you."

"...buh... thought it was... a skill... that was... Entity..."

I leave Violet to her unnecessary freakout and turn my attention to Box. I guess it deserves attention too.

"Okay, Box, fine. We'll make numbers go up. What do you want to do?"

I share her alarm at your blithe indifference towards the growing sliver of reality masquerading as a 'cat.' It's developing atemporal abilities. This is concerning.

"Don't be jealous of Pete, Box." I rub the emerging head of midnight fur as it purrs happily. "Just because you don't have a body like Corgia doesn't mean you need to get snippy."

...there are so many misconceptions there I don't even know where to start. Here. Have some of your favorite things.

I flinch back, Pete retreating to my shadow.

"Awww, not the worst-"

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

You have five infinity expressions available

Increased Damage (0/5)

Increased Attack Speed (5/5) (+30%) (Three IOs available)

*Increased Movement Speed {Short Range} (0/3)

*Increased Non-Causal Effect Chance (0/8)

Avoidance (1/5) (1%)

Life Regeneration (0/5)

Increased Movement Speed (5/5) (+50%) (Four IOs available)

*Increased Attack Speed {Short Range} (0/4)

*Increased Dash Recovery Rate (4/7) (+10%)

Increased Pierce Chance (0/5)

...it's the worst boxes. Dismayed, I look over at Violet for a distraction, but it seems she's still processing Pete's existence as an Entity. Crap. I'm going to have to help Box make number go up. The shuttle bounces again.

"...ugh. Fine. What do you want this time?"

You know, someone normal would be ecstatic at the opportunity to comprehend a larger slice of the multiverse, therefore increasing their own personal power. They would agonize over each expression's placement, create numerous spreadsheets weighing the various pros and cons of individual percentage points, calculate trade-offs between-

"Spare me the lecture. What numbers do you want to go up?"

...one point in Dash Recovery Rate and two in Increased Attack Speed {Short Range}.

"Hmm, I don't know. I didn't hear the magic word."

...one point in Dash Recovery Rate and two in Increased Attack Speed {Short Range}, please, and I hate you.

Quantum observer collapse initiated

WARNING: new Mutation, Typhoon, available

"Uhm, Box?"

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Yes! Finally! The odds were infintesimal, but I did it! Hah! Take that, stupid prediction subroutine! They're going to write doctorates about this tutorial!

"...so what should I-"

Pick it pick it PICK THE MUTATION NOW-

"Sheeeeesh, calm down."

Mutation: Typhoon allocated. You can no longer use weapons that target Mid Range or longer. You now attack with 100% more Attack Speed while dashing, and dashing resets your non-causal weapon cooldowns.

You have one infinity expression remaining

hngghhhhhhhhh

"Box?"

Box doesn't answer, so I put the last point in Avoidance. That'll teach it to not pay attention.

"Your cat... is an Entity..."

I turn my attention to Violet once more.

"We're still on that?"

"It's just..."

She waves her hands wildly as the shuttle corkscrews through the air and Corgia barks twice.

"Pete hasn't hurt either of you, right?" I shoot back defiantly. "Even though it would have been really easy for it to do so?"

"I-" Violet's hands slow, then return to her lap, "I guess I can't argue with that. It's just... an Entity..."

"Maybe you should give Pete a chance."

The shuttle bucks wildly, interrupting Violet's response and sending my stomach into flips. She frowns, focusing inward.

"Oh. That's not great. Good thing we're almost back."

Up suddenly becomes down, Corgia floating in front of Violet's face in a flailing whirl of stubby legs. Midnight tendrils whip out from my shadow, lashing the dog to Violet's seat. The cabin shakes violently, loud bangs echoing from somewhere behind us, and then the upside-down viewport rights itself agonizingly slowly, green overcanopy drawing closer the entire time.

We descend on the clearing with all the grace of a crabroach falling out of a tree, careening off limbs and leaves in teeth-rattling impacts. I'm not sure if it's a landing or a crash, but the Hellhound eventually ends up on the ground, everything somehow still intact. Dust settles across the open space as a pair of familiar figures walk hesitantly out of the trees. They peer up at us through the transparent front for a moment, then MacWillie nudges Huckens in the side with an elbow. He scowls at her before digging into his bag, emerging with the familiar shape of a wrapped roast Glowbeast sandwich. He hands it to her reluctantly.

"Huh." I pat at myself just to make sure nothing is missing. "Wonder what that's all about."

"He bet her I wouldn't come back," Violet responds absently, her own hands mimicking my own. "Obviously he lost."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm keeping tabs on every integrator in a half lightyear radius. I told them we'd be landing soon."

"...that sounds tiring?"

The straps recede along with Pete's tails, Corgia yapping furiously at the vanishing bits of void.

"Corgia takes care of most of it. We're still alive, right?"

I stagger up from my chair.

"Looks like it. I'm going to start unloading parts."

"...yeah. I'm going to sit here a bit longer."

The rear part of the Hellhound chooses that moment to drop in a piercing squall of metal, sending me stumbling towards the hatch and drawing a shriek from Violet. My limbs keep me from headbutting the frame, my feet futilely backpedaling against the now forty-five degree floor.

"...Violet?"

"...it's fine. Any landing you can walk away from is fine. Right?"

"...if you say so."

Heavy breathing is her only reply and I gingerly make my way down into the drop room where all the incognito field parts are stored. The neat stacks are no longer quite as neat, but it doesn't look like anything is obviously broken or on fire.

"Violet?" I call out. "Can you open the ramp?"

In response, the front half of the drop room's floor disappears, leaving me suspended above a ten scrumble-

3.5 meter

-fall to the forest floor, hooked to the shuttle walls by my limbs, various priceless incognito field pieces threatening to tip down out of the jumbled mess. I lower myself slightly and look around, in no danger of plummeting the short distance. The Hellhound's rear is solidly buried in the loamy soil, wisps of gray smoke leaking out from the edges of its aft section, its front tilted up at the sky.

"MacWillie?" I begin, and then another tortured shriek of metal echoes from the direction of the cockpit as the front landing strut fails, plunging the rest of the shuttle towards the ground along with Violet's rising scream. My two anchoring limbs lift me back into the drop room, the other flickering out to store falling pieces in my non-causal storage.

A half-second later, the Hellhound finishes crashing to the ground, my limbs keeping me stable amongst the juddering impact. Metallic clangs echo from the incognito field stacks but nothing explodes so I figure it's okay. The rich scent of upturned dirt fills the drop room, brisk sunlight replaced by dim red lighting and secondary groans from the shuttle's structure. I look around warily, expecting something else to go wrong.

"...hello?"

A rectangle of bright light appears on one wall, a segment of the shuttle dragged aside in crashing clamor, familiar broad shape silhouetted in the wide rectangle.

"Sky? You and the git still alive in there?"

Violet's having hysterics in the cockpit but I don't care, my limbs quickly lowering me so I can charge over to the looming figure.

"MacWillie! I'm so glad to-"

A midnight shape surges out of my shadow, swiping the wrapped sandwich from MacWillie's hand and transferring it to an endless void mouth.

gross. not fish

The remnants of a perfectly good roast Glowbeast sandwich splatter across MacWillie's chest and I skid to a halt, staring at the succulent bits now littering the ground.

"Pete! That is not okay!"

not fish

I narrow my eyes.

"If you waste food, Pete, there will be consequences."

upturned butt

Okay then.

I reach into my shadow, bypassing the three-dimensional bounds of space and time because it doesn't matter if Pete wants to hide, this is important. My fist emerges with a hissing pile of angry fur, fingers clenched around the scruff of my cat's neck, and I ignore the lashing claws raising tiny welts on my wrist. Pete should know better than to waste food. We haven't survived this long, the village hasn't survived this long by being wasteful.

regret

"Not until you make it right, and don't you test me."

A mournful yowl, and then my cat slips loose from my grip, countless tails reconstructing the sandwich from present and past. Within seconds, it's whole in MacWillie's hand once more. She looks at it blankly, then up at me.

"...and what in the never-god's flaming asscheeks was that, young Sky?"

I ignore her query.

"Wasting food is not okay, Pete. Not after everything that goes into making it. Everything that's sacrificed."

...naptime

Pete vanishes.

"Spiteful little shit," I mutter, looking at nowhere and everywhere all at once as my cat fades away from my reach. "Sorry about that, MacWillie."

She's still peering at the reconstituted sandwich in her grasp.

"Is this... safe to eat?"

I shrug in between flickering limb flashes transferring the pile of parts into my non-causal storage.

"If you don't want it, I'll take it. I'm kind of hungry. How'd your scavenging session go?"

She narrows her eyes while tucking the sandwich away in her own pocket dimension.

"Aye, it went fine, and you're not going to be seizing my winnings that easily. You and the git retrieved all the pieces we need for the incog field?"

"Sure did," I smile, stack reduced by a third and storage full. "Where do you want them?"

"Pick one of your 'trees.' Doesn't matter which, the lad's next task is chaining them all together. It'll keep him out of mischief for another few hours."

I pause at the exit from the shuttle, bright light muted to tolerability by Box's instant adjustments.

"...huh? Why is Huckens doing that?"

MacWillie smirks at me as I look back, perfect teeth flashing bright in the shadowed recesses of the downed shuttle's interior.

"Why, because I want to. What's the point of having a great big fuckoff engine when you could have an entire forest of great big fuckoff engines? There's a whole corpo apocalypse bearing down on this planet, Sky. Hiding's our best bet, but if they corner us, I'd prefer to give them something to choke on when they try and take a bite."

I don't really have an answer for that.

"...okay. Will it keep the village safe?"

Her smile fades in the dismal hold, the only visible sign of her presence the whites surrounding her eyes.

"Not in the slightest. Do you remember how we met?"

My memory flashes back to an obsidian titan striding the earth, tearing up a mountain and reshaping it into something that pleased her. A hand plucking stars like flowers from the sky. An impossible presence warping everything around it, aftereffects so recently encountered. That same indomitable aura ripped and banished back into reality.

"...MacWillie..."

A harsh bark of welcoming laughter, but now I hear the pain below the mirth.

"Aye, Sky. It's poor repayment for your hospitality, but I'm not going back." Her barely visible gaze pierces my own. "Neither me nor the lad. You gave us freedom, and I'll not see it taken away. Not anymore. Not from any of us. No matter what it takes."

"...so what do we do?"

Her chuckle this time is genuine.

"Why, hope that what we're planning to do is enough."

Perfect teeth bare once more in the endless pause.

“And if it isn’t, we drive a dagger straight into the never-god’s heart as we die.”