“Cautious, I can appreciate that, where to begin?” the Astrologer said.

“Well, how did this happen in the first place?” I asked. I noted the discarded packs and clothing in the elevator room. The Astrologer merged with the control pillar for the elevator was a gruesome picture, but he was more statue than flesh.

“I wanted to win. I guess that is a similarity we share. After seeing your condition coming in here. I wanted to defeat the Divine Empress once and for all and claim total dominion over the cities.”

“I call it all the Systemic Lands. Since it is controlled by the Almighty System and it is systemically grinding us down,” I said.

“A good a name as any other. You know her terror and how she never gives up.” I nodded at this. That was the one thing about the Divine Empress that was never in doubt. She was a fighter that just kept on fighting to the bitter end.

“As you have clearly guessed, there is probably a meta-point as a reward for climbing up this tower. With another one, I would have an advantage over here and would be able to end her once and for all. At least that was the plan years ago.”

“Then the calamity hit?” I asked.

“Hmm, that is a good name. Calamity. I had moments. Moments to act before the massive wave of energy hit. In that one moment, it was an eternity. But I never hesitate. I act and I did act. What do you know of the material this tower is made of?”

I was hoping for more of a story and less of a back and forth, but I wasn’t going to argue at the moment. I didn’t want to have to think through each answer. “The material is incredibly hard and durable. Far more than anything I have seen so far,” I replied.

“Hard and durable. Good words, but nowhere near enough to describe the material. The tower is harder than material found in level 6 zones. The only thing more durable is bedrock. But even then I am not entirely sure.”

“Really? Harder than the bedrock. I thought that stuff was insanely hard. And the tower can be damaged. Slightly, but it does take damage,” I replied.

“It regenerates. Unlike bedrock the tower has its own flow of energy. It is subtle, but one of the many things I have studied. Unlike everything else, in what you call The Systemic Lands, the material here is completely different than that of the cities.”

“Really? That is surprising. An energy flow? For what purpose?” I asked.

“No idea. It isn’t much, but it maintains the tower constantly. Unlike the various other zones and parts of this land. They reset when unobserved, but a tower is a special location. More special than anything else that I have studied besides the store itself. I suspect it might be a node or a relay for the System controlling this place.”

I looked around. “That seems surprising. I mean there seems to be very little interaction going on in this tower, or observation.”

“The System, or the Almighty System as you called it is always watching, but its presence is less present. The tower itself is maintained constantly. While the rest of the zones are swept at reoccurring intervals. The exact timing is complex, but seems to be around the rate of once every ten minutes. The tower is constantly monitored and empowered.”

“Ten minutes? Anything special about that time frame, or the hundred minute time frame?” I asked out of curiosity. We were going off topic, but I was too curious not to ask and the Astrologer was more than content to humor my questions. He had probably been quite bored trapped here for years. Many would have gone mad.

“No. There are some inherent things to the System that make no logical sense. Why use minutes? That is a purely arbitrary construct. The interval of 10 days between arrivals. The timing of 100 minutes for the Regeneration stat. The progression of points from crystals dropped by monsters.”

“Each of these things points to the System of using base ten, but more than that, it is making things comfortable or relatable for human beings. Humans use base ten based on the number of fingers and toes, but a base sixteen or base eight system would be far more likely if the System was based on alien principles.”

“Then you think it is adapting things to us. When I first arrived, which appears to be right after the calamity, the day and night length were changing. Did you notice anything like that?” I asked.

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

“There have been very, very small variations in time length for day and night. I suspect that after the overpressure of energy from the calamity distorted things. The sun isn’t real, you know.”

“I already figured that out. I call it the light source. Completely and utterly fake,” I responded with a nod. I could almost sense the smile and chuckle from the Astrologer at my agreement.

“Exactly! This place is clearly artificial but has been adapted to human understandings. But the underlying mechanics are based in energy. That is where I have spent most of my focus and time. Truly trying to understand this entirely new branch of physics. It is what allowed me to save myself.”

“So, you merged yourself with the tower? You could do it that quickly? You can’t unmerge?” I threw out several questions at once.

“I merged with the tower yes. Using the pillar, here. A key aspect of the floor. I have limited controls like the door to this room and the elevator itself. That is it. It was a rushed operation. That day, so many things went wrong,” the Astrologer gave a long mental sigh after that.

“What I did here. Should not be done. I violated my own energy signature to weld my life into the pillar here. I am cursed. Do you know what that means since I have no idea how much my Homunculus told you?”

“Cursed means permanent changes to your energy from an external source that conflicts with your body’s innate energy signature,” I answered.

“Good, since you know that much, it will help you understand. I am now part of the tower. Its minor regeneration factor and flow of energy has kept me alive, even after my physical body was destroyed. I wish there was another option.”

“You talk about a wave of energy? Like how much?” I asked.

“Immense. Like a sun exploding. But I could not make out the type. Whatever it was, it was far beyond me. But I could sense it from inside the tower. It was immense. So immense. Like looking out to see and a tidal wave is coming. You can tell something is happening, but then the wave gets higher as it gets closer to shore. And you realize the danger.”

“So I lived. Everyone else died?”

“Yes, the United City States is no more. I am sorry for your loss,” I said.

“It was expected. I had hoped the Divine Empress would have been killed as well. But I am guessing it took out most of the United City States, the rest crumbled even if they lasted. I don’t need a history lesson right now.”

“Really, I would have thought you would have been curious?” I asked.

“It doesn’t matter. My Homunculus will have left notes for me on what has happened. And it doesn’t matter until I am free. If any had the ability my Homunculus would have sent them here long ago to free me. The fact that you are here and the Divine Empress is alive, is all that I need to know.”

Wow, I had to give some props to this guy. If I had been stuck here for years, I would have asked question after question. He might be buttering me up, but it was impressive restraint. Or a more cynical person would say he just didn’t care about any of them. Or he had already come to terms with their loss and didn’t want to be depressed all over again.

It was hard to say. The Homunculus had been complex, and the Astrologer was just as complex as his proxy had been. Now that I was willing to commit to freeing him, he seemed content to talk. He was probably also getting a better feel on my personality.

He might have ways to target me in his current state, since he could clearly use a skill. Wait. He used an Imbue Skill. That meant he had be touching something if my understanding of that type of skill was correct. This entire elevator was him in a sense from what he had said.

Observing the energy moving about, it was clear, that I was trapped here with him and not the other way around. Or he had found out a way to get around the limitation of that skill. That much control and power but he still couldn’t free himself.

“I can respect that mentality,” I said slowly. “Must have been boring here.”

“It has been. But that is life. Shit happens. Complaining and crying will do nothing. I have raged. I have screamed. I have cried. In the end there was just me trapped here.”

Okay, he had some strong feelings. Better not poke at them anymore. “So, freeing you?” I asked.

“I need to be disconnected from the tower and physically separated, but the pillar also needs to remain intact. If it is destroyed I do not know the consequences, but they could be dire. I need to be scrapped clean, then you need to supply me with energy.”

“Okay, then after that? You don’t have a physical body?”

“Once I am free, I will construct one. Have no fear. I will force my energy into the alignment of a body and create a new one. It is a trick to work around curse damage to alter one’s own energy. I just can’t manage the in between portion on my own and can’t draw on the tower’s energy.”

“That seems impossible from what I know about energy and how these things should work. It makes me think you want to overwrite me?” I asked. There was a long stretch of silence at that.

“I have already tried that.” What?! “Not on you, but on my Valkyries. Where do you think my Homunculus’ came from. There were four made initially. Since you are here and have only spoken of one, that means one escaped from the tower.”

“You killed them.” That was not good. That was not good at all. He was willing to kill his own companions. That meant he was willing to do anything to me. I liked this idea of helping him less and less by the minute.

“It is complicated.” Well, that was obvious. But it was also simple in a way. “They were already dying from the calamity. I made use of their flesh and bodies while they still had some life left in them before they completely wasted away.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. While he had told me about this in the first place, I only had his word for all of this. The Homunculus was not the most forthcoming. Even if what he was saying wasn’t a lie, he wasn’t going to come out and say his women were screaming in pain and suffering before he transformed them into things.