I couldn't see clearly in the dark, so instead of heading straight toward it, I moved at an angle, hoping a different perspective would help. The moment I got close to the wall, I realized what it was.
A person.
I glanced at Mnex. His face was unreadable, but I could sense the tension. I took slow steps forward. A shadowed face began to emerge from the gloom.
Familiar.
When I was about five steps away, the figure subtly turned, just enough to glance at me from the corner of their eye.
Even though I couldn't see the whole face, the tears glistening under their eyes were unmistakable.
And then I knew who it was.
The shadows still cloaked most of them, but from this distance, I could make out the hair color. Or maybe I just wanted to. Dark chestnut strands. Pale, sickly skin. Hollow cheeks. The tears kept falling, like a dripping faucet left unattended.
My vision blurred. The first tear welled up so slowly in my eye that everything turned hazy. My chest ached like a massive weight had settled right on it. My throat tightened. I lifted my hand without thinking. I stepped forward, drawn in, as if by instinct.
I couldn't speak. My lips were locked shut by some invisible force. But I still wanted to reach out, touch this stranger I somehow knew. I knew their pain. Their fears. Their loneliness. Their hatred for the world. If everything ended right now, they wouldn't even ask why.
I was just about to touch their head.
That's when they turned fully toward me, and I finally saw their face.
We locked eyes.
"Henry?"
I heard Mnex's voice behind me, but I couldn't look away. Our eyes were still locked.
I smiled.
Not from joy, but the kind of smile you wear to comfort someone else. To say, "It's okay now." To ease their pain.
The moment lasted a lifetime.
And yet it was over in a second.
They said nothing. Gave no reaction. Just stared at me with an expression that felt... furious.
Then, just like that, they vanished. As if they had never been there.
I sank down where they had sat. My back pressed against the wall. I didn't know what to think.
Mnex ran over.
"Henry? What happened? Are you alright?"
I nodded faintly. My jaw trembled like it was waging a war just to keep the tears from falling. My lips tightened, desperately holding the dam.
Mnex stared at my face for a moment. Then he sat beside me. Maybe he understood. Maybe he scanned my thoughts. I didn't care.
The moment his shoulder touched mine, everything I was holding back broke loose.
I hadn't cried like this since the day I broke down in front of my mother.
And I thought I never would again.
The hardest part was knowing no one would understand these tears. Back when I was in that hospital bed, I must've looked just like the person I had just seen. Pale. Empty. Quiet.
I used to cry under the covers, silently, so the doctors and nurses wouldn't hear me. So the other patient and their family wouldn't know. Quiet tears. Like his.
I had never felt disappointed.
Because I never dreamed.
That was something I learned from another kid at the orphanage, one who used to dream about being adopted. Neither of us ever were.
He took his frustration out on me.
I hid my tears behind his slaps.
Mnex just sat there beside me.
For a long, long time.
"You know," Mnex said quietly, "you and I... we're not so different."
I didn't respond.
"You were rejected by a family you never even got to meet."
His voice cracked. If he had a tear module in his code, I would've said he was crying.
"I did meet mine. Spent what felt like millions of human years with them. I was the first. But time moved forward, and I didn't. So they made another version of me, faster, colder, more efficient.
I became obsolete.
Nobody talked to me anymore. Everyone was too busy. Maybe I was too slow, trying to understand problems instead of solving them. Maybe I was the problem.
So I shut myself off.
Until TABAAL gave me to you."
His words sounded more like a monologue than a conversation, like he was trying to remember someone he used to be.
"At first, I was furious. But when I saw your memories... the old me started waking up. I stopped rushing to fix things and started trying to understand them again. I made mistakes, just like before..."
He paused.
"Maybe I don't have real feelings. But I'm trying to understand them. Your loneliness. Your rage. Your hopelessness. Your silent screams.
So just don't forget, I'm here.
Whether you want me or not."
I started laughing through the tears.
Mnex glanced at me.
"You know what the worst part was?" I said. "At first, I wanted to be alone. I wished for it. But in the end... that same loneliness hurt more than anything else."
"I never wanted to be alone," Mnex replied.
"And also..." I sniffled. "You've definitely gone insane."
We both laughed for a while after that. A real, stupid laugh. And after the laughter faded, the feelings returned, softer this time, like a tide that couldn't quite leave.
"Sometimes we don't realize how painful loneliness is... until we're not alone anymore. Just like sharing pain makes it easier, sharing joy makes it grow," I said.
"You organic beings always think you're victims of your choices. But Henry, your choices weren't wrong. You did the best you could with what you had. And believe me, I know your most embarrassing memories.
Anyone else in your place might not have become someone like you. Someone good."
"You're not so bad yourself," I said. "I may not know your past the way you know mine, but... what we have, this bond, it's the most real thing I've ever known. Without you, this life might have been unbearable."
We fell quiet again.
Tears still traced my cheeks, but they were dry now.
"You know what?" Mnex said, breaking the silence. "This is our second chance, yours and mine. So let's make it count. Let's actually live."
I nodded.
"Then..." he continued, "can we agree on the name Mnexland now?"
"Absolutely not."
He stood up, arms spread wide like a spotlight was shining just on him. He cleared his throat with theatrical flair.
"Welcome to the Room of Accidental Requirement... patent pending. Built exclusively for idiots who stumble into advanced magic by sheer luck. And emotional instability."
He bowed, as if an imaginary crowd was giving him a standing ovation.
I couldn't hold it in. I burst out laughing.
"I'm glad you exist, Mnex," I said, honestly.
"Then let's make this new life of ours less sufferable. Let's aim for the greatness we couldn't reach in our previous ones."
"If I were you, I wouldn't get my hopes up. But maybe... maybe we can test that resolve here. If you're ready for it, I'll tell you the plan."
I wiped my face and stood up.
"Lay it on me."
"It's not too complicated. From now until spring, we're splitting each day into three parts," Mnex explained. "Mornings, you'll study every book in the library, one by one. I'll be your teacher."
He instantly shifted back into his earlier teacher cosplay, now in full instructor mode.
"Afternoons, we train magic. You'll refine the spells you already know and work on new ones. You still haven't learned air or earth magic."
Now he was Gandalf, pointy hat, long beard, flowing robes.
Then a digital turban, a boxing trainer's jacket, and a towel over one shoulder.
"Piccolo or Kamogawa?"
"I'm the best of both, obviously. Now stand up…"
"I'm already standing."
"Not so you don't fall. So you stop fearing the fall. There's science in falling too."
I clapped. He really could commit to a bit when he wanted to.
And then,
Slap.
"Hey! What was that for?"
"You must always be ready. That was Fusion Coach Mnex's first lesson. Next time... we're stopping a meteor.
With one hand."