The man approached his friend’s body with complete disregard for the ten or so elite Angels lining the perimeter of the room.

Half of Catherine’s face had been peeled away, revealing her gemstone hive beneath in place of the white bone of her skull. Her body was clothed in a single piece of clothing covering the torso. A large section of the fabric near her chest appeared slack, suggesting a gaping hole there; The fatal wound which had cost the heir her life.

One look at the disconnected tubing and deactivated machinery around them made it obvious that the Incandestine had been running tests on the heir’s corpse. Wondering what kind of research they may have been conducting wasn’t going to help right now, but the machines could prove useful to the Bloodstone’s plans.

“Aleister, could you drain the vat for us?”

“Yes.” Aleister said. He drew one of the tubes racked into a nearby machines and plugged it into a port on the bottom of the vat containing Catherine’s corpse.

Without the controlling computer, the machines may have been useless, but Aleister wasted no time. Strands of his long silver hair wormed their way into the crevices of the device, forcibly manipulating the internal components, making it do what he wanted it to. In seconds, the orange liquid began draining away.

Rolynd caught Catherine’s body with his Aegis, setting it down gently into a dignified sitting position at the bottom of the vat.

“Open.” Rolynd ordered.

Aleister obliged, the glass of the cylinder rising into a receptacle on the ceiling.

An uncomfortable sterile, chemical smell wafted out into the room. One of the Angels shuffled

Rolynd knelt, taking Catherine’s cold hand in his.

“Sophia, the gemstones.” He asked, over his shoulder, meeting Sophia’s eyes.

“Yes.” Sophia replied. She slung the cloth bag on her back to the floor, herself kneeling to reach inside. From within, she first drew two lumps of shiny purple rock.

The warden tilted his head, seemingly recognising the sight of Carmen’s gemstones.

Rolynd took the stones from Sophia. With some focus, he struck them with the heel of his palm, causing spikes to protrude from their bottom surface. He placed the spikes on Catherine’s forearm, puncturing the skin. Sophia handed Rolynd the second gemstone, an elongated, radiant yellow shard. Charlie’s. Rolynd tapped Charlie’s gemstone to Carmen’s, releasing a bright and sudden glow of purple and green light.

Like magic, Catherine’s body began to repair itself, the detached skin of her face rejoining her scalp. The various scratches and stitches on her limbs healing shut without leaving a single blemish. Afterwards, Catherine appeared as if she was just asleep, frozen in time at the age of sixteen.

“Soon it will all be over.” Rolynd said, heaving a sigh. “I wonder Catherine, did you foresee this future too?”

Wait…

Aleister opened the box he held. From within, a cloud of fine dust flew, arranging itself into a complex magical arrangement on the laboratory floor, with Catheine’s body in the centre. At the place for each reagent, a pillar of the nanomachines stood, carrying hundreds of different materials, combining their meanings in a unique way calculated by the supercomputer found among Miretrix’s belongings. So it was for all but one of the seven spaces on the ritual arrangement. The space for a willing soul.

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Rolynd stepped towards the empty space waiting for him on the edge of the magic circle. It was only five steps away.

Sophia could all but hear Effie’s ghost screaming in her ear. “What are you doing?! Stop him!”

But Sophia could not speak. The blood had drained from her face, the breath caught in her throat. Time seemed to pass in slow motion, each of Rolynd’s footfalls the slow beating of a terrible drum.

“Rolynd.” Aleister said, breaking the still air. “You can’t be serious. At least give us a decent goodbye. Look at Sophia.”

Only after Aleister pointed it out did Sophia notice the wetness of her cheeks.

Rolynd stopped just one step away from completing the spell. He didn’t turn around to look at his friends. He couldn’t. There was a reason why none of them had spoken about who would sacrifice themselves. But faced with the reality of the situation, Aleister had found the courage to break that silence.

“If I turn around, I won’t be able to take another step forward.” Rolynd said quietly.

“Can no one else do it? Does it have to be you?” Aleister asked, persisting.

“It has to be me.”

Say something! Sophia screamed at herself. But she could not bring herself to say a word. This is what Rolynd wanted to do. It was her duty as his friend to send him off with a push to the back, or failing that, she could at least make sure that she wasn’t getting in his way.

“Why? We need a willing soul. Surely the Incandestine forces have one loyal subject willing to give their life for their heir?” Aleister argued.

“The person must be completely willing to submit themselves to the process. Do you think its possible for these Humanist Puritans to completely trust a tainted science, to rely on it to bring their beloved heir back from the dead?”

Aleister didn’t answer his friend’s question, afraid that what he said might spur Rolynd forward. “And you won’t let Sophia or I take your place?”

“No, I can’t allow that. I am the face of the enemy. With me out of the picture, life will be easier for everyone.”

Silence. Sophia’s mind raced to find the right words. The perfect combination of words to say to change Rolynd’s mind. To make him stop. To just make him stop for a moment.

But time continued to press on.

“…I’ll miss you.” Aleister said. The young man hesitated to step closer, some instinct of his urging him to make a physical display of his emotions, but the awkward Bloodstone could not. He let himself be satisfied with what he had done.

Wait wait wait wait. Not yet. Not yet. Sophia thought. I need to tell him. Just… tell him!

Rolynd heaved a sigh. “I’ll miss you too.” He said.

As he took the last step to the edge of the magic circle, Rolynd turned to look at Sophia’s eyes one last time.

Sophia gasped at the bittersweet expression shining through Rolynd’s eyes.

Suddenly, it was all clear to her, she didn’t need the perfect words, she just needed him to-

“WAIT!” Sophia screamed. I don’t want anyone else to die, least of all you!

But, Rolynd’s foot had already stepped clean onto the floor. A look of surprise had barely begun to spread across his face. The spell had taken hold.

Time had stopped.

If I tell him to stop, he’ll listen to me. He’ll listen! He always listens.

“It’s too late, little one.” Said a voice. Golden light spread from somewhere behind Sophia.

She turned to look at the source behind her. An impossible sight to behold. ADAM seemed to float just five paces away, and yet the physical distance between them seemed to stretch into infinity.

“A-ADAM?” Sophia asked. “What is happening?”

“An excellent question. Should I class this as a success, or a failure? You awakened to your truest desires, but at the last possible moment.”

“This, this entire thing, it was just a test?”

“Yes.”

“So… did I pass?”

“Not quite. And I suppose that means that you have failed. Ordinarily, I would leave you to the more miserable fate of living in this world that you despise. But by merit of your near-success, I have decided to return you to the reality you call home.”

Sophia was in a daze. The past six months was all an illusion of sorts?

“…Reality? How will I know what is real or not?”

“I suppose you won’t, but does it really matter? You will live. And you will act. And it will feel so real you will never be able to know the truth. Then, should you not live in a way that is true to who you are and what you want?”