They had appeared in a dark alley next to a dumpster reeking of rot, death, and worse. It was lightly raining, and thunder rumbled softly in the night’s distance. Several large dark plastic rubbish bags lined the wet wall beside the dumpster. Josh’s slightly stirring body lay face up on them. Twenty-five meters down, the alley intersected a busy street. The light of passing headlights reflected up from the wet asphalt as the cars drove by. Several overhead lamps were out, creating a flickering shadowscape as the wind caused loose utility lines to sway overhead.

Joshua Elias Tanner had indeed been returned to the current mortal iteration Sen was in. Wherever they were now, it was unlikely where they had started, given his grandfather’s desire for Sen to be made over.

Upon first arriving, Sen had turned to Joshua and made clear eye contact. An initial look of horror had come over the exhausted mortal’s face before he had proceeded to pass out again. His loud snoring was the only sound to Sen’s ears save the wind and dripping rain.

There was no telling why his grandfather had gone through the trouble of sending Josh along. However, Joshua was no immediate threat, so Sen disregarded him and let the human continue to sleep on the plastic waste bags he had collapsed back onto.

“Combi, identify current space-time coordinates.”

No response…

Sen mentally scanned his union to the Combi–

–And discovered that there was no sense of his Ethos Combi being bonded to his Ka core at all.

There was also no sense of the overwhelming dominance of his Ka core, the center of his Immortality that had presided in the center of his being from his initial dawning at the will of his progenitors fifteen thousand Ka nexus cycles ago.

Senyak’s Immortal axis, the immutable aspect that joined him with everything spiritual, physical, metaphysical, current, past, future, material, and immaterial–was gone.

Now there was nothing...

Still, Sen attempted to open his Ka core and restore his Immortal Essence. I just need to rejoin with my transcendent form–

No effect...

His fists were like stones, jaw clenched, eyes closed, and his desperation increasing with every failed attempt. He repeated the process, again, again, again and again. After only a few tries, 1,049 times over the previous fifteen minutes. Just to be sure... but who was counting... Something inside of Sen put a stop to the futile efforts...

Then, just to be sure... as if Sen’s Immortal transcendent form was a cagey animal he could sneak up to and suddenly pounce upon, he did it again another 150 or 200 times...

Nothing...

The rain had stopped, and the stars wheeled overhead through the breaking clouds as Sen realized he couldn’t even really remember exactly what it felt like to have his Ka core. Being separated from it seemed to remove its very memory. Focusing his concentration, Sen could barely appreciate its fading loss... something gone and just beyond his fingertips.

... Then even this impression faded. In minutes, it was totally gone.

I’m… mortal.

Unable to think of anything else to do, Sen called out to his grandfather. Each time, he addressed his failings and promised to make the necessary changes. Each time, it ended with him begging to be restored to his Immortality. Each time, his pleas went unanswered. He had even once called out to Damni, who he was sure could hear him if she so chose.

There was no response then, either.

Finally... Sen gave up. He crouched over his feet in the alley’s shadows and decided to take stock of what he did have and what could be sensed of his newly acquired mortal vessel.

Concerning his physical being, subjectively, he couldn’t identify anything that seemed different from his transcendent form. He was still strong and capable of combat. His thinking processes also seemed to be intact. His knowledge base didn’t seem to be altered either. Sen could still remember his family, the Marztanak Immortal realms and iterations, the stages of Immortal cultivation, etc.

On the spiritual level, however, there was one difference Sen appreciated after sitting quietly for a few seconds and searching his body. There was a minuscule, centrally located, mortal-spiritual source. A 1.5-centimeter spherical structure, gently glowing in his strange mortal... Aural …sight?... Is that the word, Damni?

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No response...

A bitter smile carved into his face as he caught himself slipping back into his old habit. That is going to have to end.

Yes, ‘Aural sight’ was right. Sen’s mortal Essence core, for lack of better words, was just below his navel where his Immortal core had been. He did note that his aural sight was dim and cloudy. Dulled compared to the ultimate clarity he had unknowingly luxuriated in as an Immortal.

This core... Sen’s core... seemed to be filled with stagnant, unmoving mortal Essence. He prodded it with a thought and watched the Essence swirl around itself. Sen could make the Essence travel in a desired direction if he concentrated long and hard enough. It followed clearly laid out meridians leading from his core to all points in his body. His torso, head, extremities, brain, and genitals. There were also meridians between all of his... organs – Which were very new things for him as well.

Following the internal flow of Essence, Sen noted that it completed a full circulation through his body, and then the Essence flowed back to his core in a loop. There was a minimal exchange of energy and (waste products?) all along the meridians.

Three of his organs expelled the waste. His lungs, via the exchange of airborne elements, a coiled tubular organ that occupied most of his abdomen, and two-lobed, semi-circular organs located near his back on either side of his torso. These two connected to tubes that ended in a pouch-like vessel in his lower pelvis. The looping abdominal organ seemed to have a continuous run from his oral orifice to his— Transcendence! Mortal life was going to be... untidy.

Sen continued to circulate his Essence along his spiritual circuits. In response, his organs accelerated their function. The physical tube in his abdomen squeezed in a rippling, rhythmic syncopated pattern. The pouch at the end of the chain began filling with liquid. The core at his center also grew infinitesimally brighter when the Essence returned… As if it collected and consolidated more Essence through this process.

When Sen finally disengaged himself from the internal observation of his core, he was covered in sweat and gasping. He took in several deep breaths that seemed to help. After a few moments, he looked up and noted the sky had taken on the early signs of first light. Shades of dark blue gave rise to the vague crimson lace of astronomical twilight. Senyak was unsure exactly how much time he had been watching the cycling of his Essence. But it most likely had been hours longer than it had seemed, given the signs of morning and his… physical fatigue? Was that what this feeling was?

The rain was long gone, and the street and walls were in the last stages of drying. But Sen was feeling... cold? He wrapped his damp robes more tightly around himself with minimal improvement. There was also a pain in his lower pelvis centering on the pouch organ he had identified earlier. It was gnawing at him and got worse when he pushed down on it. On a whim, Sen raised his robes and encouraged the pouch-like bladder to release. Amazingly, a full stream of yellow impurity flowed out, significantly relieving him and creating a small puddle that only partially drained away through the broken asphalt.

Belatedly realizing the slant of the alley was not in his favor, Senyak hastily used one of his hands to aim his genitals another way before the stream finally trickled to a stop. Sen again pushed on his… bladder, he decided, and the pain was gone.

Hmmm, maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to figure out mortal life after all—

“What are you doing, dude?”

Sen spun, surprised at the words, still holding the fleshy tube from which his yellow waste had flowed. His other hand was still pushing down on his abdomen and his bladder. He stood in front of a now fully awake Joshua, shamelessly flaunting his full sun, less than thirty centimeters from Josh’s horror-stricken face.

Josh’s eyes widened in shock, and he scooted away from Sen on his butt with his hands held awkwardly, palm up in apparent surrender. With no way to back up, he scrambled to stand on top of the wet bags he had been lying on.

“Damn, dude! Put your dick away! What’s wrong with you?!” Josh’s face puckered in distaste as he tried to move laterally along the wall and away from Sen’s position.

Confused and momentarily uncertain of the social norms concerning genital exposure among mortals, Sen quickly pulled up his undergarments and let the top half of his robes settle back down. Had he somehow profaned a societal taboo? But how? After all, Damni didn’t seem to have any objections about it. In fact, she had seemed rather pleased to see–

He cut off the line of thinking, pain from the raw emotions the memories caused. Betrayal? Abandonment? Loneliness? Sen wasn’t even sure what he was feeling, let alone what their mortal descriptors were.

Joshua must have reached what he considered a minimal safe distance. He stepped off the rubbish bags and tilted his head slightly, continuing to spread his hands between him and Sen to show he was no threat.

Then he interjected in the not-unkind manner one would take with a child or a mentally incompetent adult. “Listen, friend, there’s a time and place for everything... even rocking out with your cock out. But... are you… special?”

“Special? What? Yes!” A sudden memory of similar gestures from the mortal historical records he and Damni had entertained themselves with surfaced. He glared. “Err, no! I am not mentally challenged if that is your implication, human!” Sen over-forcefully responded, shaking his head quickly in negation, causing his topknot to turn with his head.

A surge of recognition splashed over Joshua’s face at the familiar movement. His eyes narrowed, and his features hardened.

“Wait… It’s you!” Josh hissed.

All thoughts of kindness seemed to be gone from his face as he lunged through the air for Sen’s throat. Caught off guard by his internal stress over social norms and the rapid, visceral nature of the attack, Sen couldn’t dodge or deflect Josh. They slammed down on the wet stones. Josh on top with both hands wrapped around Sen’s throat, movie-strangling him, the fierce gleam of madness shining brightly in his eyes–

“Cease this activity now. I’m ready to explain things to you both.”