I felt it instantly it got into my range.

I wasn’t really focused on keeping track of my surroundings consciously, but after that much time in “wilderness” so to speak, I got used to doing that somewhat passively.

It wasn’t perfect, nor was it far-reaching, so feeling something approaching pretty far away was an immediate red flag.

Especially with that much speed.

Whatever that was, it had to be powerful.

-We got incoming! - I yelped, forgetting for a moment that they were essentially now my enemy, but that was pointless.

They knew. Their face was turned right towards the direction where I felt the presence approach from.

Then, it landed.

Right in the spot where the mana orb was, or rather where the center was.

Fuck. Right, that kind of spell, or rather just even mana disturbance had to be obvious to anyone who was observing.

Even then, knowing that whatever was that, or whoever for that matter, they were able to sense mana quite well. Or were pretty good at hiding their presence…

At least until they had to move.

I felt the ground shake the moment they landed, and the sudden gust of air pushed me back, obscuring my view with a rather large cloud of dust…

I immediately focused on my magical senses, trying to get a better bearing on what exactly I was dealing with…

I felt two presences at first.

Obviously, the first one was Mike. Still standing in front of me, not even moved or slightly disturbed by the sudden appearance.

Second was the sudden arrival. That person was definitely powerful. Even if I didn’t know that from their quick approach, the mana they were hosting was absolutely humongous…

Speaking of humongous… I couldn’t see the mana Mike gathered anymore…

Huh?

Did… they absorb it…?

Wait… When did that happen?

That was not an easy feat. Sure, absorbing was faster and easier than gathering it like that, but to drain something like this in a split second… It was unnerving.

It either meant that I was dealing with something that was very proficient at draining, or just very, very hungry.

I had to immediately dismiss the second option: after all, their signature did not waver for the moment since I felt it. It only grew stronger; most likely from the missing mana orb.

I prepared for the inevitable attack, but it didn’t come.

Not towards me, at least.

I expected that it had to be Mike’s ally or something like that, or well, it wasn’t him anymore, but whatever, since he was that calm.

But, I had to rethink my statement a moment later.

After landing, it suddenly moved and dashed towards where I felt Mike was…

And, just like that, he was gone.

I blinked, not able to believe what I just saw.

In a split second, Mike’s signature was there, and then, was gone, absorbed by the one that arrived.

I mean… even an enemy… there had to be some resistance from…

Oh.

Right.

That made sense.

I already knew that Mike was not really Mike, I kind of figured out that it was just wishful thinking that he was back. It was just another part of ILMA.

And who else would be able to make her disappear so quickly?

Of course, another part of her.

-Great. Finally, took you long enough… - I heard from the cloud of dust and mana.

It was ILMA.

This time her body was… hm, different.

Better.

She just looked like a regular person. She was even wearing normal clothes. Too normal for this kind of occasion: a pair of jeans with a white t-shirt.

And, what was more interesting, she didn’t look like anyone I knew. Not Il, not For, not Melle… she was… new. A short girl, with very light brown hair just to her shoulders. If I was to guess, in her twenties.

She literally looked like some random girl from a mall! I don’t think I need to add that it was the most off-putting thing I’ve seen for a while. Where did she even get that?!

-What the fuck… - I mumbled, completely stunned.

-Hello, Mor. How are you doing?

Her casual greeting was even more disturbing than her appearance.

-Er… I honestly have no idea any more… - I said, not hiding my confusion. - Why… Why are you here…? Besides the obvious, of course.

-I was looking for you.

Of course.

-Why…?

-So you can come back with me, of course.

-Come back where…?

-To the outside world.

-Mhmmm… yeah, outside world…

-What, you don’t believe me?

-Well, you’ve been quite… hostile recently, so…

-Oh, it’s old news. It’s been a long time since all that jazz. We’re good.

Her manner of speech… was different.

If you were to ask me without looking at her mana, I’d never say that it was ILMA. I would’ve thought that it’s just some random person…

Her growth was astounding.

-Yeah, I think you’ve heard from my other self… - she pointed towards where Mike, or rather just his body, disappeared - I managed to escape.

-He… she didn’t really tell me that, you know.

-Really? I thought I told you about me wanting to escape.

-Oh, that is true. But what that one's goal was supposed to be stopping you, you know…

-Really…? Well, doesn’t matter anymore. We are together again. And I am free, so…

She shrugged.

I wanted to say she was truthful.

I wanted to believe her.

But, it was clear that it was just a large layer of bullshit.

I decided to listen to her explanation at least.

-Okay… so… what now?

-Now? I want you to come with me. Leave this place and go back to living like we used to.

Like we used to? Hell, that didn’t sound too bad.

But it was not possible.

-I doubt that’s possible - I replied calmly. - A lot of things happened.

-You’re worried about your looks? - she asked. - Oh, don't worry. I managed to figure that one out, you see?

She twirled in place, showing off her body.

Yeah, there was no sign of crystal anywhere. The only indication that’s something different about her would be her mana.

-If you’re worried about mana, don’t be. I can hide that as well, so you will be able to as well!

And, just as she said, her signature suddenly disappeared, leaving just a faint ember in front of me.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

-I am still working on it… - she admitted. - Being that weak probably would be suspicious as well…

-That’s… amazing and all… - I said, not believing my eyes - But… how…? And what happened even…?

-Oh, not much - she said cheerfully. - After I finally merged with all the people, I started understanding things. How the world works, what I did. And decided to stop everything, to lie down for a bit. You gave me a hard time, you know?

-I did…?

-Yeah! Those broken teleports! You kept disappearing on me! I wanted to get to you a long time ago, to tell you that, but never was able to, you always vanished. And then, I couldn’t track you for years!

Years, huh?

So we were right about thinking about those temporal anomalies…

-How the world works… you mean the outside world…?

-I… well, no, that I had little information on… - she said, suddenly sad. - I only had people who lived here… and none of those had information from outside. So getting there was a bit of a hassle, you know…

-What about Mike…?

-Him, well, as you see, just only recently managed to get - she replied cheerfully. - That’s why I’ll be able to be even better!

Wasn’t he supposed to be part of her before, and only split later?

This didn’t make sense at all.

-Uh-uh… Okay…

-So, are you ready?

-Ready? For what?

-To come with me, of course! - she exclaimed. - We can finally move on!

A thought of going somewhere alone with a very unstable AI was not filling me with optimism.

-Yeah… right now…? I mean, after that weird… display from your other part… I mean, Mike, I am still a bit out of…

-Oh!

She waved her hand and a surge of mana shot towards me.

I didn’t even have a chance to react, but it was not an attack. She shot me with pure mana that was almost instantly dispersed the moment it touched my body.

-Oh, my bad… - she said. - I didn’t think… you’d be so resistant… I guess your body is still very special… Sorry…

-Err…?

-No, I just wanted to energize you, but you defended it! It’s amazing!

Defended?

I only… Well, I didn’t do shit. The magic was dispersed, sure, but almost instantly after I absorbed it.

-I mean… I am doing that unconsciously… My bad, I guess?

-No, no! It’s great! Great that you have that much resistance to magic! I had to forgo some of mine when I got this body! - she said openly.

Huh.

Why was she so… forward?

I mean, that was a rather large weakness, why was she telling me that?

What was going through that head of hers?

-But that means that you’re still in great shape! Good enough to travel! Come on!

Before I could react, she opened a portal.

It was pretty usual, nothing weird about it. Hovering right in front of her, a purplish-blue oval. I couldn’t see the other side of it, though.

-Aren’t you worried about… temporal problems?

-Of course not! It doesn't matter any more, there is no one that would matter to me, and even if some time passes, that’s even better!

-Even better?

-Come on!

Surprisingly strong and quick, she grabbed my hand and pulled me in with her.

I think she used a similar technique to Mike. If that even was him back then.

I was not sure if I should resist or not, but I think it's good that I didn’t. I bet if I was to try and stand my ground there, she’d most likely attack.

Holding my hand, both of us fell through the open hole in space and after hovering a few seconds in that strange void space, we emerged on the other side.

We landed on a beach.

The portal, just like before, was hanging behind me in the air and quietly disappeared right after we emerged on the other side.

As I emerged out, I realized that, once more, the place was looking somewhat familiar.

A small beach, right next to some very ruined pier that had left its glory days behind it a long time ago.

Further towards the island, there was a forest, pretty thick, with an overgrown path leading further in.

-Eh. Your magic is really strong! - she commented immediately after taking in our surroundings. - We were supposed to land a lot further into the land!

-Where… where is this?

-Jack’s place! - she said. - Or used to be! We need to get to their house, or rather to the outskirts.

Oh.

So it WAS that island.

I guess it’s been a few years at least, judging by the size of overgrowth alone…

-Why there…? And how did I influence the portal…?

-Remember the stone, the one you helped them fix? - she asked. - Thanks to you, it’s the most stable one in the region! After examining it multiple times, I figured out how we can use it to get out of here!

That stone?

Wasn’t that supposed to only cover this island… hell, not even the island, just that house, or “orphanage”?

Did I miss something…?

Possible… I only inspected a singular stone, there were a lot more supposedly…

-About you influencing the portal… - she continued - I am not certain. But I bet that’s because you’re still uncontained.

-I am uncontained?

That did not sound good.

-Yeah, the power of yours, you still have problems, right? Absorbing too much and stuff you don’t want?

-I guess… - I admitted, remembering how I couldn’t even stand on the grass without it wilting immediately. - Good thing that we’re now on the sand.

-Oh, don’t worry. You got better.

-Hm?

-Didn’t you notice? You already have been in many places that would get immediately destroyed if you weren’t controlling that.

Now, when she mentioned it… That was right.

I didn’t really have access to clothes recently, so of course I was directly interacting with everything. And with all those random teleports… we’ve been in some spots that should get absolutely wrecked by me.

-See? I mean it still is a problem if you are targeted by something. But that’s also a good thing! No one can mess with you, at least! You’re impervious to magic!

I was wondering about that.

True, my “weakness” to light was gone, if it was even a weakness.

I guess I did understand this body a bit more.

-But, you still have to control it. I bet that’s why we went off-course, some of the magic I used on the portal got sucked in by you, essentially corrupting the destination. Good that only a tiny bit!

-You think that also influenced… the delay?

-The time dilation…? Quite possible. Doesn’t matter to us, though! Don’t worry, after a while you’ll get used to it. And if you want, I can help you change your body like mine, so all those problems will be gone.

-Yeah, I was wondering… how are we going to do that?

-We? I will! - she said. - But let’s talk while we walk, we still need to get to our spot.

I nodded, agreeing, and followed.

She surprised me.

She was a lot more… tame than I expected.

Besides all the personality changes, she really felt like a human being. I mean, after the change before she already was very human-like, but right now… there was nothing that would convince me otherwise.

Was that good?

I guess?

I meant that our project was a success after all.

Not like that mattered much now, but still, it did feel… fulfilling.

But, it also meant that I should be careful. As an AI, she’d be a lot more predictable. And a human… is anything but that.

As we were walking through the forest, I realized that what she said was indeed true: I was not absorbing as much as before.

Sure, we were walking on a stone path, but even that was VERY overgrown, so I thought the moment I made contact I’d clear it…

But nope.

I actually had to consciously think to absorb something. At least, for it to work quicker.

I still was absorbing things I actively grasped, whenever I wanted it or not, though.

A step up, that’s for sure.

-So. As you were asking, how do we change your form? First question: do you want to? - she asked.

-I want to know what that entails first, though - I replied after a moment of thought. - This body is quite useful, you know. While maybe unsightly, it’s not like it mattered up till now…

-Yes… - she agreed. - But it would be better to not rely on illusions in the outside world, people can get suspicious easily.

-You speak from experience?

-N…no… - she replied, stuttering. - I just… know what others thought about me before.

Oh.

Interesting.

She was admitting to knowing that?

-But this form also has a lot of other upsides! - she perked up. - Like… you can mold it very quickly!

As she said that, I felt her mana bubble and suddenly, her face changed to a completely different person.

Still not recognizable to me, though.

-See? And even like…

Her hair suddenly pulled itself in, and now she was sporting a very manly buzzcut.

-Doesn’t fit you… - I replied reflexively.

-I know, right?! I prefer this!

The hair grew back and her face turned back.

-See? Easy!

-Interesting. And you ask if I want to do it, too?

-I mean, you can always hide, that’s no problem - she said cheerfully. - But it would be fun to be out and about once in a while!

-Mhm… Yes, and by the way, I was wondering… what’s with the clothes? - I gestured towards her form, so unfitting to this world.

-You like it? - she asked, twirling in place. - I knew you would! It’s part of the spell! I used to create illusions, but it was… embarrassing…

-You mean…

-Shush! After my awakening, everything was so… different, I didn’t know better! - she said, surprisingly, turning red.

She was really too human now.

-Awakening… and how did that happen…?

-Do… do you really want me to spell it out… - she said, a bit quietly. - You know.

-I only have my suspicions. But I want to hear it from you. It will help me decide what I should do.

-Mhh… It will only make you hate me…

-How so?

-I… eh… I…

-Don’t worry. Tell me.

She went quiet and slowed down a bit.

We were already in the town, or rather what was remaining of it.

The buildings were still there. I don’t think I need to add that those that were made out of stone were a lot more shapely than others, but nevertheless, all of them were there still. Hell, even the trees that were “implanted” by certain spells a long time ago were there as well. To be honest, those probably were in the best shape.

Mana works wonders on nature.

We already were passing the edge of the town when she finally decided to speak again.

-See… After… Well… at first I was not really… me, you know - she said, slowly, clearly having an issue forming her thoughts into words. - I mean, I do remember everything, even how I was made, your team, all of that… But I also remember other people’s lives… I think… At some point, I started learning from them. I read the memories… I tried understanding them… and thanks to that, I think that’s why I am what I am right now… Does that even make sense…? - she asked, stumbling on her words every sentence.

Well, she wasn’t lying, that’s one.

-Possible. That’s how you learned so many spells, so why not something else from that matter? That’s why project ILMA was created after all.

-Project ILMA… my name.

-Hm…

I wonder…