"Okay, Reid. This is your final exam. I wanted to give you a different kind of final, one that would..."

  Nyx's voice went hoarse and died out almost immediately. She was coughing, sputtering, and sounded even worse than before when she regained herself.

  "Cetus's unending torment, even that got restricted. Ugh, we really need to power level you as soon as you're ready for it. My point is, I can't do what I originally wanted, so instead I need to confirm you have this shit down well enough to get yourself the rest of the way to the G grade limit on your own, or I'm not going to rest easy. Oral exam. Give me the summary of your understanding on the five basic Stats."

  Reid pictured himself in his library, looking at an encyclopedia on stat knowledge. He started off slow. "Each stat has two halves - a metaphysical, and then their normal or physical one."

  "Power is my muscles and my mana pool, which has my sea of rage metaspace. It's physical strength, overall mana capacity, and explosive mana application. I improve it by building up my body, or creating in the metaspace to expand the mana pool."

  "Good. That was the easiest one. Do another."

  Constitution is my body's organs and functions as well as the vitality stores - and that has the kitchen metaspace. I improve it by making my organs and bodily processes more efficient, making myself more resilient like with bone growth, and growing and condensing my energy stores."

  "Partial credit. You also have to organize, cook, and eat in the metaspace to better understand how to stretch energy and other resources in the right ways for you. Next"

  "Dexterity is muscle memory - or maybe a better way would be calling it bodily understanding. The metaspace for that one is the gym obstacle course. I improve it by gaining better understandings and cataloguing motion and force to make the best movements instead of the 'most powerful' ones. I improve the metaphysical version by doing similar stuff with my metaphysical body inside of the metaspace. Do I get points off for saying meta too much?"

  "No. Full points. Next."

  "Perception is knowing myself and the world, and the intrinsic understanding of how things should be so I can identify when stuff isn't the way it normally would be, and to understand why. Perception has the lab metaspace. I improve it by gaining complete understanding about processes and things, and improve the metaspace by analyzing and answering 'why' things are the way they are."

  "Partial points, because I know you're still thinking about physics without properly considering mana and magic. You'll be able to max out in G grade without doing it, but it'll be tougher. Next."

  "Intelligence is knowledge and categorization, but also the control and mapping and manipulation of how my mana is applied to and interacts with things around me. Intelligence is the weirdest one, because the metaspace is the game store library, but the other part of it is the string tangle, and I can interact with that one metaphysically too. I improve by organizing things - and I think the way I organize it will become more important as the contents grow. I improve the tangle by understanding the strings, the strands that make them up, and what I can do to re-shape or re-use them. They all interact with the world, mana, other skills, and the system - so that one might be one of the most important."

  "Right on. You pass."

  Reid felt a wave of relief wash over him. He wasn't sure if stress was the right way to put it, but he had really wanted to 'pass' Nyx's final exam - just like Win and Lycra passed theirs. He felt obligated to do his level best to show her how much her efforts had truly paid off - that she wasn't wasting her time or stuck with some incapable idiot. He wanted to impress her, and he wanted to do well. Her joyful tone felt like validation.

  "It's time - meet me in the game library."

  #

  Nyx was behind the counter again. Her entire face was lined with signs of fatigue and emaciation - but she was smiling.

  "Reid, you passed my final exam, but i need to make the contents of your actions abundantly clear. Even creating metaspaces is something that takes normal people years. You did it in days. I could compliment myself as a teacher for your quick grasp of the different methods of self-improvement and self-affixation, but the truth is you have innate talent that made this possible. The time investment for your overall progress, even now, would normally be measured in decades."

  "That time investment alone is why, even when there was an open choice, so many people went contract over self-affixation. It was why they chose easy paths. Your work and dedication, coupled with your ability, make you an individual of immense potential. Whatever you think that entails, you don't know the half of it. You've aced Nyx's remedial training for the self-affixer, and you blew all of my expectations to smithereens. This is my graduation gift to you."

  She beckoned Reid to come around the counter. The rear side didn't match up properly with the glass display case. Instead, there were dozens of doors that reminded him of PO boxes - except instead of keyholes, each was inscribed with symbols and glyphs. Nyx was smiling.

  "I saved everything Sara wrote to you. To preserve them, I had to leave each in its original encrypted state - but I've built this system for you to access them. Each compartment houses one of her messages, and there are decryption glyphs on the doors. Whenever you have downtime and energy, you can come here and feed a glyph. When you've given it enough energy, the door will open and the message will be yours."

  Reid ran both hands over the surface. Tears welled in his physical and metaphysical eyes and he dropped to his knees. There were so many doors - so many bits of his daughter... saved for years, decades, or centuries. Nyx had held onto these, not because she needed them or that they would aid in her work - she kept them because she knew Reid would want them. She knew what they meant to him.

  Nyx had done so much for Reid. Brought him back from the dead. Crippled herself for his sake, and tied her future to his potential rise. She selflessly helped his friends and freely shared as much knowledge as she could.

  He was so indebted to her. So thankful for her. She'd been happy just to hear him say her name. She was content just being someone Reid was willing to talk to. He hadn't told her yet how truly thankful he was. He hadn't told her how he considered her to be like an older sibling to him.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  His heart ached for Nyx's misfortune. How long - both while she was stuck with him and before that when the shackle had control of her - how long had she gone without hearing her own name? How long had she suffered, without real contact with another person? She was about to go to sleep again, and Reid wanted to shake her hand and thank her - but that wasn't enough.

  He wouldn't just shake a sibling's hand.

  How many hundreds or thousands of years had she gone without a hug?

  Reid rose, spun, and embraced her.

  Despite all the time they'd spent together in his metaspaces, this was the first time they'd 'touched'. Her form, though still fuzzy, felt dense and true as if it were part of the laws of the universe. There were sparks of golden light that he could feel embedded deep within her otherwise pitch black and glowing silver self.

  She stood there, shocked - then slowly, some of the tentacles on her neck reached over and patted Reid on the shoulder.

  "Thank you, Nyx. I... I owe you so much. Thank you." Tears streamed down his face. He had so much to appreciate, so much to cherish.

  When they separated, Nyx's expression was full of mischief and wonder.

  "Reid, what were you thinking just now, when you hugged me?"

  The question took him off guard. "That... uh, that I really appreciated what you did for me, and that you didn't have to. That you're like a sister to me, and I want to pay you back somehow. And... I guess in the moment I hugged you, you felt different. Like you were made of Pitch Blackness, silver, and sparks of gold."

  She rose a brow. "Most interesting, but that isn't what I meant. What did you feel right before you hugged me? What were you thinking?"

  "The same, I guess. I just really wanted to give you a hug and say thank you."

  Nyx smiled, and her entire form seemed to shimmer.

  "Marvelous... Keep working on your stats, do what you can to max them out - every single one. I believe you're capable of it. Goodbye for now. We'll see each other again when you make that progress, or reach a beacon."

  With that, Nyx's form turned to whisps of shadow that faded into the recesses of the metaphysical room. Reid was left alone in the empty space.

  "Right. Bye for now, Nyx."

  #

  #

  He spent a while sitting behind the counter, staring at the doors. The anticipation of it built like a flame in his mind, but he also felt... apprehensive. Afraid.

  All of his understanding on how the past thousand years had gone for Sara came from her status as lord of Earth, Lycra's TV show information, and reassurances from Nyx. Yes, she'd pulled through, but what struggles were waiting in those messages? What pain? Could Reid really read through them without feeling responsible for each bad thing they might contain? Was he even ready for it?

  Over minutes, he moved from the stool to kneeling on the floor. The glyphs became more intricate as they progressed, which meant he was supposed to start with the top left. Reid pushed energy through himself and into the door. It greedily sucked down everything he offered, then took more. The lines glowed, and the door swung open.

  Sara Calderwall has requested to rename [Queen's Edge] to [ I know you won't ever read this, but Gina said talking to you might help. So here I am, talking. I'm a bit surprised it actually worked. It gave me a failure at first - something about how much 'information' I can send. Maybe I can use this like a journal. My dad journal. Djournal? I think you would've laughed at that. I miss you. I'm sorry for yelling at you - your statue, I mean. This world sucks. It would be better if you were here. Gina is a therapist, btw. Specialized in working with trauma victims. There are a lot of people that could use her help. I think she and Marysa would've gotten along. ]

  This request has expired.

  Reid had a lot of emotional moments recently, where he'd let himself tear up. Reading the message pulled at him more than the rest combined.

  He stared at his daughter's name, and let himself weep.

  However long it took him to be done, Reid collected himself, and dove into the next door. It pulled more energy than the first.

  [ Hey. It's been a while. Months, I think. I stopped seeing Gina. But I wanted to write. Everyone is so narrow minded, dad. They don't understand how weak and awful they all are. I try to be wise and consider things, but it all feels so hollow - like I'm play acting with a bunch of paper mache dolls. Everyone thinks they just deserve responsibility. They think titles will bring them power. It's the opposite - you need strength to gain titles. You need strength for everything. They still want to play petty political games. They insult me with all these dumb nicknames, and I take it. But this one little cockroach took it too far. He insulted Queen's Edge, and then he insulted you. I didn't hold back. I didn't want to. ]

  There were so many implications there - so much to understand and unpack and so many questions he needed to ask Sara.

  His only option was to open the next door.

  [ I underestimated the South American Alliance. They were angry, but it was their fault anyway. They tried to revolt. We lost people - good people. My masseuse died. I liked him a lot. ]

  There were only more questions.

  Reid pushed more energy to open the next door.

  [ I'm the lord of earth. The ceremony to make it 'official' will happen in a few years. Celebrated with mom. We lit candles by your statue and then went home and ate cake. I wish I didn't feel so jaded, sometimes. You know, I've lived more than twice as long as you did, and I still go to mom for advice. I don't know if that feeling ever goes away. Maybe it's just the connection and the trust. I have so few people I know now, as a person instead of as my titles. I wish you were here. I wish I still had two people for that kind of advice. ]

  'I wish you were here.'

  'Your statue'.

  Visions flooded Reid where Sara and Susan cried next to his petrified remains.

  His heart broke and re-formed over and over.

  She'd said she was at least 70 years old, and she still missed him.

  Reid pressed on.

  [ I lit another candle for you today. Fourth year in a row. Mine wasn't the only one. People have turned it into this weird kind of pilgrimage. It's fine as long as they don't mess with the statues, so I put guards there. I think I'm going to ask for the campground to become a protected site. There's a massive crystal deposit underneath, so that's sure to piss people off. They can get bent. ]

  Reid was nearly tempted to look around at the cavern walls.

  If the resources were so valuable, he could see that becoming an issue.

  The next door took even more of his energy - which was starting to run low.

  [ I missed another remembrance day, but the beast invasions slowed down a bit so I'm writing you now that I remembered to. I miss you, and your power, and your resilience. It's such a childish thing to say, but I miss having someone stronger to rely on. I do. Almost everyone is so weak. They're weak and they don't care. They just die. They all just die. ]

  Every instinct screamed at Reid to go protect his daughter, now - but he couldn't.

  He needed to get stronger.

  He needed time.

  And this message was already hundreds of years old.

  Reid shoved himself into the next door.

  [ Went to a support group today, incognito. I just wanted to be miserable with company. If anyone recognized me, they didn't say anything. But this guy from Chile said something that stuck with me. "Nobody really survived the awakening. They're either dead, or they're different." It's such a fucking shitty thing to think, but it made me glad you're gone, dad. The awakening didn't break you, not really. So I'm glad it didn't have time to turn you into something other than yourself. Seeing you, locked in your little grin - it holds me together sometimes, just knowing you're there, and that this shitty universe can't do a goddamn thing to touch you now. ]

  Reid broke down again, and let himself be swept off by emotion.

  #

  He was empty.

  Drained of energy and tears.

  But as he laid there, wishing he had enough strength to open another door, he realized something.

  There were many more doors remaining than ones he'd opened.

  The experience was cathartic, in a way. Like Sara was with him, in those small little flashes. That was the gift - pieces of his daughter's life, ready for him when he was ready to unlock them.

  He needed to eat, and sleep.

  His aching body dragged him to the shelf, where Win healed him wordlessly.

  More improvement waited for him in the morning. Closer to the goal - to perfection. The promise of enough strength to take on any enemies.

  More of Sara's messages could come after that.

  Character Cheat Sheet: