The next few days were far more productive now that Okeria was solidly ‘on my side’. I still didn’t fully trust him, especially not when he tried to lay claim to every single thing we found that wasn’t necessary to give Mortician a physical form, but he never once overstepped that boundary. If that was how our relationship was going to be from now on, with me always checking my pockets to make sure Okeria hadn’t taken anything, but that was the worst of it, then I could live with that.

It would be annoying and mentally exhausting, but I could live with it.

Keratily was a completely different animal. Jun became a little more harsh in dealing with Keratily, no longer being as patient or accepting of things her grandma wanted her to do now that she knew she had Okeria’s support. On the surface, Keratily played the part of a huffy old woman who was annoyed that her granddaughter wasn’t spending enough time with her or doing what she wanted her to.

But when nobody was looking, Okeria would show Jun and I drone footage of Keratily sneaking glances over at Jun and I with radiant joy on her face. It was so strange, especially considering what we’d overheard from Okeria’s drone. And Keratily did seem conflicted at times, though that confliction melted away whenever she saw Jun happy and active. I got the feeling that as long as I had Jun by my side, Keratily would follow us into the depths of hell. But Keratily wouldn’t so much as watch me leave if I abandoned Jun.

“Good thing ya don’t plan on abandoning her any time soon.” Okeria said with a swipe of his hand through a slyk pod, scraping out a gouge of thick oil that vanished into his inventory immediately. “Just ta be clear, you’re sure this ain’t hurting Mortician in any way? I’m not scavenging them out of house and home until we can get them a nice, physical body?”

“I already asked them, and they said it was fine.” I confirmed. The fragment of slyk I’d already pulled from the pod pulsed with anticipation for the few moments I held it in my hand, then joining its brethren in my inventory. “Forty-six down, a whole lot more to go. And we’ve only got a few handfuls of pods left in this trawler.”

Okeria studied the pod for a moment, then surged forward to grab it in a hug. It disappeared moments later. “Did ya confirm if that key ya got opens something in this trawler, and not something on our path?”

I summoned the key to my hand, then flipped it over in my fingers. I traced through the network of slyk pods to try and find somewhere that the key would open, but still couldn’t find much of anything. Even if the numbers on the key were equal to the number of pods, it didn’t seem like the key opened anything relating to the pods. And after exploring the vast majority of the trawler, it didn’t seem like it opened anything on the trawler at all.

“I’m as sure as I can get.” I answered. “Are we still on track to hit the layover today?”

“No reason why we wouldn’t be.” Okeria said with a shrug. “Keratily should be done with all that oil ya gave her a few days ago, if ya want ta go back ta her and Juniper. I don’t think any of us expected that oil ta be such a strange ingredient, Keratily least of all. I’ve got it covered here.”

“So you do.” I said with a smirk Okeria couldn’t see. “Anything else you want to ask Mortician before I go?”

Okeria tilted his head to the side in thought, then shook his head. “All their other answers were a little to vague for my liking. I’ll wait until they’ve got a better grasp on their memories. Tell them I enjoyed messaging them, though.”

I nodded as Mortician’s message asking me to tell Okeria the exact same thing he’d said to tell them came in. That was one thing I was keeping secret from Okeria; the fact that The End and Mortician could hear and see pretty much everything I saw. Even if The End had assured me that wasn’t the case so long ago.

A few seconds later, I turned with a wave goodbye. “Mortician says they enjoyed talking to you too. See you when you’ve got enough oil to drown yourself.”

“Already got enough for that!” Okeria laughed. I smiled to myself and started walking away, only to hear him add something under his breath just loud enough that I knew he’d meant for me to hear it.

“Just need enough for everyone else.”

My walk back through the bowels of the trawler took almost twenty minutes at a very leisurely pace. Past the warehouse were what seemed to be living quarters, a huge kitchen, and all the inner workings I expected to see on both a ship and a submarine back on earth. What there wasn’t was a trove of treasure, or a paddock of pods. We’d have to find the rest of them at the layover and our final destination, which was still a ways away according to both Okeria and Keratily.

I ended the short journey with a climb up the stairs and a knock on a door that was far less armored than it had been days ago. Jun opened the door fully armored, nodded to me, then hurried away in the direction I’d been going.

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

“What’s the rush?” I called after her.

Jun swiveled on her heel and started running backwards. “We’re abandoning this trawler when we get to the layover, so it’s my turn to get some materials with Okeria.”

That was news to me. “Good to know. Don’t get on each others’ nerves too much.”

“No promises!” Jun called back with a laugh, then turned and sprinted off into the distance.

Keratilyplaced an armored hand on my shoulder, then chuckled with a shake of her head. “She’s wonderful. I’ve finished with the blessings you asked me for, but they aren’t quite what I initially said they would be. This slyk’s oil was far more potent than any other Okeria has brought to me, though I can’t fathom how it grew so large. This trawler isn’t any different than the others I’ve taken across this oil-drenched land.”

I shrugged unhelpfully, fully aware that Mortician’s presence was the reason the signaleech had grown so strong. We’d agreed that Keratily shouldn’t know just yet, in case she reacted badly to the revelation. “Hazards are fucking weird.”

“That they are, that they are.” Keratily agreed. “Come, come. I want to see this piece of armor transform these blessings with my own four eyes.”

“Trinket, not armor.” I corrected.

Keratily shrugged. She led me to the table in the center of the room where three small opaque orbs sat. “I would highly recommend analyzing these before you ingest them. I can only create what I know is safe for my own biology, and the system should warn you if there is anything harmful to humans present in the liquid blessings.”

I nodded as I stepped up to the table and did as Keratily suggested. My interface worked for a moment before spitting out three separate results for me, each of which seemed fairly powerful.

//ANALYSIS COMPLETE.

//Thickening Blessing of the Leech Tyrant

//Grants the consumer a temporary surge to battery and speed when they come in contact with another core-bearing entity. If the Consumer successfully damages the core-bearing entity, that entity suffers a loss in battery equal to what the consumer gained. This does not affect the battery stat, but rather the core’s internal battery.

//Duration: 1.2 hours.

//Plasmic Blessing of Overflowing Current

//When consumed, creates a burst of electrical activity through the consumer’s nervous system. This generates hypersensitivity along with extreme fine motor control, greatly increased neural activity, and improved connection between flesh and armor. Consumes battery every minute while active.

//Duration: 19 minutes.

//Crude Blessing of Slykened Melding

//Effects unknown.

//WARNING: POTENTIALLY IRREVERSIBLE CHANGES COULD HAPPEN WHEN INGESTED.

//I WOULD RECOMMEND WAITING ON THIS ONE UNTIL MORTICIAN HAS FULLY RECOVERED, SO THAT YOU MAY CONSULT THEM ON THE POSSIBLE CHANGES.

“Two of them seem completely safe for me, but the third only has a warning. I couldn’t even analyze the effect of it.” I told Keratily, picking up the two safe spheres and tucking away the third in my inventory for later. “Thanks for making these. Hopefully they’ll help me out somewhat.”

Keratily waved off my thanks. “I’ve seen what having a non-combat core can do to a person. You’re handing it far better than most, but you will hit a wall far sooner than most. That is not me being pessimistic. It is the hard truth.”

“Maybe if I relied completely on my core. Which I don’t.” I pointed out, crushing the Leech Tyrant blessing in my right hand as I activated //ENDLESS. Nothing spilled out of the glass shards that rained down from my gauntlet, and an oily ribbon sprouted from my shoulder to inform me that it had worked. “A core is just one amazing function that doesn’t cost you a lot of battery. I can make up for mine.”

“Of course you can, dear.” Keratily said placatingly with a small nod. “I only wanted to make sure you knew how difficult the path ahead of you will be without a core that actively helps you.”

The second blessing fell to pieces between my fingers, creating a ribbon that looked like it was made of raw electricity. I disagreed with Keratily’s opinion, but not for the reasons she used. Yes, my core wasn’t combat focused. Yes, I could effectively make someone else a lot more powerful than I could make myself. But if I armed myself in corrupted gear and overflowed my core with stat nodes, nobody would be able to tell the difference between me and someone with a combat core.

“Only Jun’s had the privilege of getting corrupted gear out of me, and I don’t plan on changing that any time soon. So I think we’re going to be fine.” I said defensively. Keratily tilted her head to the side, then chuckled happily to herself. “What’s so funny?”

She waved off my question but answered it anyway. “Your loyalty to Juniper. I was worried that you would abandon her, but now that you’ve confirmed Okeria’s theory, that worry is gone. You confided in Juniper long before anyone else, saved her life, and indirectly saved her from my descendants. As long as you continue to treat her right, we won’t have any problems.”

Ah, to end off a compliment with a thinly veiled threat. How wonderful. I decided it was time to change the topic. “How much longer until we’re at the layover?”

“Five hours.” Keratily answered without checking her interface. “If you have any business left on this trawler, finish it immediately. We won’t be returning here ever again.”