After a long and twisted effort, Asher finally gathered all his children. The number shocked him. There were more than he had expected.
They all lived on the moon now, inside a fortress he had built himself.
Cold stone and metal walls stretched wide under the empty space. The place felt distant from any normal world.
They worked together on the portal. It was the only way for him to get his real body back.
Days turned into weeks, weeks into months.
Some of them slowly grew closer to him, while others kept their distance.
Then small talks began. Shared work turned into longer moments. Bit by bit, the gap between them started to close.
Still, progress came with pressure.
Asher noticed the strain growing worse. His projection kept draining energy without pause. Every movement was heavier than before, like something inside him was thinning out.
