Sunwhisper woke in his own room, with Janna sitting on her heels at the side of his bed. Her look of concern was genuine, and she offered him a glass of water as soon as he opened his eyes. The Jin family had no access to refrigeration, a scripted box infused with mana to keep its contents cool would have constituted a rare treasure in Fringe Town, a luxury for the First Elder’s manor, perhaps. It was well water, however, and therefore suitably cool. While Sunwhisper’s body was not as water dependent as a human’s, it could still benefit from ingesting the liquid, and he accepted the cup with gratitude.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"Bad," he said. His chest ached, as did his ribs, and one of his hands felt like it had been stomped on by an ox. Joints were stiff and speaking took more effort than he expected because his jaw was tight.

"What happened?"

"I don’t remember."

"Was it the Gomen boys?"

He shook his head. There was nothing wrong with his memory, but outing his attackers would only serve to fuel the feud between their families, and Sunwhisper didn’t see a benefit for himself in causing that rivalry to escalate. Besides that, they could have hurt him much worse than they had. He looked forward to being able to upgrade his physical statistics as soon as his System would allow it. Being vulnerable to adolescent bullies was not a quality the future savior of Earth should have to concern himself with.

Sunwshisper was the final iteration of the mechanoborgs, which had developed from humans with cybernetic enhancements to machines with human brains to fully synthetic androids. He was functionally an enhanced human, but not a single molecule of his body was biological. He could build a superior version of himself as soon as he met the energy requirement to do so.

Minor conflicts between local families, even when he was directly involved like this, were not mission relevant. There was no point in wasting time on it.

Janna’s face tightened.

"It’s my fault, I never should have left you."

"It isn’t your fault.” She had changed her attitude again. It was exhausting. “You are not my guardian."

"No, but still…" She seemed to be reaching for a reason to take responsibility. True, Sunwhisper would not have been pummeled if he had stayed home, but the Gomen boys could have caught him some other time if that was their aim. Like her brother Jammu, she was feeling shame over a situation that was beyond her control. Was that normal?

Sunwhisper thought back to killing the fox. Makoto had cried over the death of the animal. There had been tears on his face even as he crushed Optimus’s knees. There was a clear line of causation between his own action, first pointing out the presence of the fox and then insisting on hunting it, and the fate of his fathers. He was more responsible for the deaths of the other mechanoborgs than Janna was for his current injuries, but he did not feel shame.

What did he feel?

"You didn’t cause this, Janna,” he said. “You don’t matter that much.” She didn’t matter. He didn’t matter. Things just happened. It wasn’t his fault. There was a tightness in his throat despite the water, and fresh pain in his chest. Another injury he hadn’t yet had the chance to take stock of. Cultivators channeled mana to speed their recoveries. His body would repair itself soon enough, especially if he found some metal to swallow for his stomach to break down into components, but eating Soma fruit would be even better.

“I’ll be fully operational after I have had my share of the spirit fruit,” he told her.

It was Janna’s turn to look away.

"I think that will be just what I need to help with my condition." Magical fruit was something the people of this world understood very well, they wouldn’t even be suspicious if his statistics noticeably improved after he consumed it.

"You will have to speak with Father about that," she said, still not meeting his eyes. He had finished his water, so Janna collected the cup. "I will tell him you are awake."

Sunwhisper did not understand her expression as she left. This was a setback, but it could have been much worse, and he was already focused on how he would move forward. While he waited for the head of the Jin family to visit him, he practiced the basic channeling technique, and was gratified to discover that he could see an increase in the flow of mana into and out of his core. It was still just a few motes of light traveling through his meridians on the diagram in his status screen, but that was a few motes more than he’d had in the beginning. He’d already committed a more advanced meditation to memory, and he would attempt it as soon as he could channel well enough to do so.

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Father Jin entered so quietly that Sunwhisper did not notice him for long seconds.

"You are diligent," the head of the household said, "to pursue the pure arts with so little hope of success."

Sunwhisper snapped out of his meditation, sitting up quickly in bed and giving a seated bow.

"Thank you for checking on me, honorable father."

"I am glad to see you are awake. Janna tells me you do not remember your attackers."

"I don’t." He met the older man’s eyes. The lie was obvious, but it would save face for them both to preserve it.

Father Jin grunted, sounding like his son. "Take the time you need to rest. You gave a good show at the Reaping. Mother and I are glad we have you as an honorary member of the family."

"Thank you. I know the fruit will help me recover more quickly.

"There is no need for that. I will not push you to work while you are injured."

"Still, I will be able to improve my channeling."

Father Jin frowned. "Shishio, I am grateful for what you did today, deeply grateful." He bowed at the waist, a surprising gesture of humility from one of higher rank. "But the family has decided that we cannot afford to share the Soma crop with you."

The fruit that he had helped collect, including an entire basket that would be in the hands of another family if not for his intervention. They would give him none of it. It took Sunwhisper a few moments longer to process this.

Father Jin filled the silence. "The Gomen boys are all one star. It isn’t right that two of my sons have yet to reach that stage of advancement. Jammu managed to hold them off almost by himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if he advances two steps closer to a second star once he has his share of the fruit. If even one of my sons has the genius to attain two-star status,, the fortunes of this family will change forever. I believe you understand."

This would affect the mission. The channeling meditation alone was far too slow. If he wanted to be stronger than Makoto in this century, he needed as much Soma as he could get.

"Honorable artist, I must protest."

"Surely, you understand. I am not taking fruit for myself either, though it pains me. All that we have must go to keeping us fed, and to helping my sons become the men they must become for the heavens to continue to smile on us. This is the best for you as well. You have a broken core, so your dao is no more, that is a fact, you would not be with us otherwise. We do not have the fruit to waste on you."

"I am improving."

Father Jin made a dismissive gesture. "I admire your diligence, Shishio, but the decision is made."

"I deserve a portion," Sunwhisper said, "even a reduced one."

Father Jin raised an eyebrow. "Deserve? Do not speak to me of what you deserve to be given under my own roof. I have told you that you are honored here. You do not need to fight for your place, but do not mistake my kindness for weakness. The fruit is not for you."

Sunwhisper lowered his head. He would have to find another way to quicken his advancement. "As you say, elder."

"That is better." Jin left him.

Sunwhisper returned to channeling. It was a good way to clear his head, and in any case, he was making progress. He felt annoyed at Father Jin’s refusal to reward him for what he had accomplished, but he pushed that annoyance aside. Biological persons were subject to the chemical whimsy of their brains. Sunwhisper was above petty emotions, and yet, he found it harder to concentrate on the channeling than it had been before his conversation with Father Jin.

They all thought he was a failed cultivator. They had no idea about his mission, or how important he was. It was hard to say how much time earth had left before the Spiral Dragon transformed it into a hellscape of alien geometries, but he knew he did not have a lifetime to spend on the gradual accumulation of spirit energy.

Not only was time an issue, Sunwhisper was not sure how to return to his reality without the knowledge of his fathers. They had created him after the beginning of their journey, so he hadn’t lived through the transmigration, or witnessed how it came about. Orobos had activated some kind of gate to allow access to this universe, but Sunwhisper had no memories of that gate or of how to use it.

The irony that he had been created to ease integration into this society while also being the one to commit the transgression that resulted in the annihilation of his race was not lost on him. The guilt of the dead fox was his to carry, but he pushed that guilt aside as he did all his emotions. He couldn’t have predicted this outcome from the data he’d had in the moment. Emotions were not logical. Emotions were a distraction.

What had been done with the remains of his fathers? Had Makoto left them at the border as a warning to others who might arrive there? Sunwhisper resolved to try to return to them when he could, in the hopes that he would find a hint of how to go home when the mission was done.

The compass was enough to find the Quintessence, but not to bring it back to earth and to Orobos.

Sunwhisper stretched his meridians as far as they would go, only relenting when he felt fatigued. The meditations were a mentally exhausting practice, and while he didn’t have to sleep, exactly, he did need to enter a semi-conscious dormancy to properly defrag his mind. He did so, laying down fully again, but not before making a resolution.

He was going to steal the fruit.

Not from the Jin family. They didn’t have much to begin with, and he would be a suspect as soon as a shortage was discovered. Besides, he preferred not to steal from his foster family unless he absolutely had to. Stealing in general, however, was perfectly acceptable in the service of his mission, especially if the one doing the stealing wore a face that bore a distinct resemblance to a member of the Gomen family.