Headquarters had been expanded. A newly built section with its own support pillar, which connected to the original central section via what used to be its viewing window. The new expansion contained a conference table, and presented a dioramic view of the surrounding chasm and long-term memory archives beyond it, in every direction save where it connected to the main section.

Dim Joy was slouched at the head of the table, which was pear-shaped, with representatives from every important area of the mind seated along the broader area of the pear. The smaller area of the pear shape was elevated slightly, with the five Emotions seated there.

"It's nightfall," Dim Joy announced. "Riley has gone to sleep, and today's Daily Recollection Phase, which is the first in the history of Riley's mind, can now begin."

The representatives were all seated, somewhat adjusting to the new environment. No Mind Worker, or Emotion had ever attended a conference before.

"Our first item, and the primary topic of this conference, is the energy shortage." Dim Joy spoke with a speaker voice, which echoed through the conference room to be clearly audible to all in attendance. "Riley has had abnormally weak motivation of late, especially in regard to mental tasks. While this can obviously be attributed to a lack of energy material, otherwise referred to as 'go-juice,' the exact reason for the shortage remains unknown to us. The representative from the Thought Foundry will now address this inquiry."

Dim Joy seated herself, and a Mind Worker on the broad end of the table stood up. "The Thought Foundry, as you all know, is also the site of the largest go-juice mine currently in operation. Our people have prepared a presentation, which will hopefully illustrate the situation in a comprehensive manner."

A huge scale model was brought into the conference room by four workers carrying it in unison. They set it on the lower area of the table, and slid it to the center. The model presented a round plateau, surrounded by a circular range of pointed mountains. Atop the plateau and inside its valley was the long-term memory archive, the Islands of Personality, Imaginationland, as well as the chasm in the center, above the center of which was Headquarters.

The Mind Worker representing the Foundry had a long rod. "This is a scale model of Riley's Conscious Faculty. Everything about her mind which she is inwardly aware of is situated on, or in this area." He moved his rod to point to a spot in the mountains surrounding the plateau, where there was a round gaping hole. "This is the location of the Thought Foundry, and the central hub of all attached mining networks. These mines, which comprise seventy percent of all go-juice production, have become overrun with parasitic entities called D-Tractors.

The conference room erupted with chatter. "How did they get into the mines?" Fear asked out loud. "It's not like things just appear of of nowhere."

"We have a team of irregulars investigating the matter as we speak," the representative replied as he checked his watch. "They should be heading in... right about now."

The APC made the noise of a humming engine and rolling tracks. Joy felt her bare feet on the rough, uneven rock floor of the tunnel. She was on the right of the vehicle, with the shorter Omega ahead of her. Lambda and Gamma were on the other side, and Iota was driving. The vehicle's lights illuminated their path ahead.

The tunnels were not the real-world appearance of rock, but rather a peach color with a smooth surface. Even areas which had blast and pickaxe markings looked like they would be smooth to the touch.

There was also infrastructure in the tunnel; pipelines, set up on the walls and ceiling of the broad tunnels in a setup in which they'd be out of the way.

Omega kept dropping little rods, which glowed with a dim yellow light. They were markers, to signify their traversed path. Joy simply stepped over them, trying to keep alert and her gun ready.

As the group advanced, the field of vision given by the lights of the vehicle panned into a cluster of black, organic grubs. They were grouped together like a tangled mass of worms, and excreted glimmering slime all over the rock surface to which they were attached. They were congregated around a crack in the rock which gushed a blue liquid, combining their tongues around the spot to rapidly lap up any fresh substance to arise. The APC stopped at this.

"Sigma." Joy heard Lambda call out from the other side. "Why don't you show us what a couple hours of target practice did for you?"

Knowing what she was getting at, Joy leveled her weapon and fired on the grubs. One was hit, and it lit on fire, falling off the distant wall in a death curl. She shot the rest of them, one by one.

Once they were all gone, the short, diminutive Omega ran up to the opening in the rock, which was now gushing blue liquid in earnest. He looked up, at a pipeline situated above on the ceiling.

"Can you reach the hose up there, Omega?" Lambda asked.

Omega turned back, and nodded twice with his round head. He then turned back to the wall. Joy found it peculiar what the shortest member of the team would be the one to reach up somewhere high.

A long, thin limb shot out of Omega's back. It reached up behind the pipe, and pulled down what looked like a fire hose from a wheel mounted on the concealed side. The peculiarity of Omega being the one to do it vanished. Joy's gaze was frozen on the long limb.

It looked the same as the limbs of the spider-like creature that attacked her in Headquarters. Joy gripped her weapon harder.

Omega fixed the end of the hose into the crack, to absorb its output into the pipeline.

No, Joy stopped herself. The Spider had oval-shaped eyes, and Omega's were round. It could have been a different irregular with a similar ability. However, while Joy did not believe 100% that Omega was the Spider, she was glad that her spot in the formation was behind him, and not the other way around.

"You finished? Continue the advance, then." Lambda banged on the side of the APC, signaling Iota to move forward. The behicle turned right at the curve in the tunnel as the party passed the newly fixed juice hole.

"Hey, Sigma," Lambda called.

"Yes?" Joy answered.

"Those wormy things were Category One D-Tractors. They're pretty helpless on their own. But there's also been sightings of Category Twos down here.

"And I'm guessing those ones aren't helpless." Joy conjected.

"Mm hm, much less helpless. They vary in shape and anatomy, but the average size of Category Twos are about half the volume of the APC."

"They'll rip you up like fried chicken." Gamma sniped, also on the opposite flank of the APC.

"Dammit Gamma, stop trying to scare the rookie."

Joy ignored the chatter erupting between the two on the other side. She looked at Omega, ahead of her as they continued advancing through the tunnel, going slightly downhill. Omega peeked his round head back at her, looking shyly up at her face as he walked.

She smiled politely in greeting.

Omega tentatively faced forward again.

The model on the conference table, depicting the entirety of the plateau representing Riley's Conscious Faculty, had several things added to it during the course of the talks.

"This is my proposal," Dim Joy said. "The number of D-Tractors has increased dramatically in the last year, and there's no reason to think this increase will not continue. The one thing which they cannot breach, no matter the cost, is Headquarters."

The model's new additions consisted of a defense ring built around headquarters, as well as a separated station platform that did not dock directly with the main control room. Every train station that embarked in the direction of Headquarters was now built like a fortress, with walls, security checks and thorough inspections before any train was cleared for Headquarters.

One of the representatives stood. "While I agree, Joy, that headquarters cannot be compromised no matter the cost, I hope you are also aware of the implications of such a motion."

"Go on," Dim Joy said. "Explain them to me."

"Well, for starters," the pointing stick was passed to him, and he pointed to one of the fortified stations. "If every thrain of thought has to be stopped and thoroughly examined, they'll be slow to reach Headquarters, or any other destination. Riley's thinking will become significantly less efficient."

Fear interjected, "ooh... You know Joy, I was behind this idea, but now I'm not so sure. If Riley isn't thinking as efficiently, how will she perform in school? I'm thinking about that essay we still haven't done."

"I... appreciate your concerns, everyone," said Dim Joy. "But my decision stands. We're fortifying Headquarters. Who is the representative of the railroads?"

One of the Mind Workers stood up.

"If my information is correct, your sector has developed new thought trains with greater speed and freight capacity. Is this true?"

The Worker nodded. "Riley's brain is getting more efficient, slowly but surely. The new model will enter service within the month."

"This will make up for the hindrance presented by the new security measures," said Dim Joy.

"We could have both," Disgust said. "The new trains, and no new regulations. That would almost be like..." She opened her hands in a melodramatic 'poof' directed at Dim Joy. "We're getting ahead."

"Once we're certain that the D-Tractors pose no threat to Headquarters, I'll lift the regulations."

"How, exactly, do you determine whether they're of no threat?" Anger asked, annoyed. "Is this some fancy word for never?"

"This meeting is adjourned." Dim Joy rose from her seat and left.

"Hold on a second. You're getting up and leaving?" Sadness called after. "Just like that?"

Dim Joy stopped, and turned to face the other four emotions. "I've made my motions clear. What do you expect? That we put it to a vote?" She walked away again, waving it off. "That would be ridiculous."

"D-Tractors follow a pretty simple plan." Lambda was making small talk as they explored the mining tunnels. Joy and Omega were on the right flank of the APC, with Lambda and Gamma on the left. Iota was driving. "They become more numerous in a mind that's getting older, and if they're not dealt with they even start nesting on the surface."

Joy was still at her spot in the formation, warily scanning everything ahead, illuminated by the APC's lights as they advanced through the tunnels. "You make it sound like that's the case for a great number of adults."

"I'd go as far as to say it's almost all of them. Adults' minds tend to be fortified everywhere; elevated platforms and memory banks built like bunkers. All to keep everything safe from D-Tractors. Not a lot from their childhood survives this adaption."

Joy wasn't enjoying this story. Lambda had to be wrong, or Riley an exception. The idea of her mind becoming what was being described was too much to accept. "Have you ever actually seen a different mind? I think you're just paranoid."

"Makes you think though, doesn't it Sigma?" Gamma, also on the left flank, said. "Makes you think: I wanna try extra hard to nip this problem in the bud."

It occurred again to Joy the reason why they were down in these tunnels, doing what they were doing. The weapon in her hands.

"Company halt!" Lambda called. The APC and everyone on foot, including Joy, stopped walking. "Iota, brites up."

The APC switched on its main set of lights, which beamed into a higher field than the driving lights. The brites shot across the tunnel, illuminating the far wall.

It was infested with grubs. Covering almost the entire visible wall, they were crawling about, searching for sustenance and moving on if they could not access it. They were as big as cats, with soft, lumpy flesh wrapped around their limbless forms.

"Fire at will."

It was a turkeyshoot. The four out on foot fired repeatedly, killing each grub with a single direct shot. Joy advanced closer, with Omega ahead of her doing the same as she got wrapped up in the excitement of killing the small parasites one by rapidly consecutive one.

The ground underneath her feet gave. She was stopped in her tracks by the startling feeling of one's footing suddenly becoming unstable. Joy looked to her right, at the tunnel wall, and saw a broad, squat opening in the rock made visible by her vibrant glow. The ground dropped more, upsetting her footing further. She did not say anything. The suddenness of the ground collapse caught her completely off guard.

Then it gave completely. She dropped through thin air, and slid into a downward slope. The gunshots of the Irregular team became quiet, and the sound of her sliding down the slope constant, and soon solitary as her glow illuminated the path within a couple meters from her. The stone sround her in the slide was wrinkled, and slightly pearlescent, as though it were coated in something. She could not get a grip or traction anywhere, and continued to slide down.

Joy landed in what looked like a natural cavern. Only a brief distance around her was visible on account of her natural glow. All she could see was a radius of floor, and the wall behind her. All else was pitch dark. She was separated from the others, now completely alone.

A noise, from the omnipresent direction of the darkness around her. The sound of brush being agitated, footsteps, burying into soft dirt in rapid succession. It came from her front. She could not see what it was. Could not see into the darkness beyond her glow. A high-pitched groan emanated from the source of the sound, followed by several heavy, natural clicking noises. The sound was deep and vibrant, implying a large size.

It came into Joy's field of light. More steps gringing into the dirt. A head, the size of a pickup truck, suspended several feet into the air. The visible head had two horizontal jaws, with a black, gleaming exo covering. It had no eyes.

Its thin antennae flailed about, touching everything in reach as the head inched closer to Joy. She was trapped in her corner. It made more heavy clicking sounds, now deafeningly loud on account of being made in her direction.

"Really guys, there's no need to be upset." Dim Joy was slouched on a couch near the control panel, watching tonight's dream. "We have it unbelievably good up here, and my fortification policy will make it all the safer."

Anger was mad, Disgust was trying to hide her disgust, Fear was afraid, and Sadness appeared sad.

"Riley is going through change," Dim joy continued. "I understand how that's never comfortable, but you'll all get used to it, I promise.

It was Sadness who spoke up. She stepped forward, "we're worried about you, Joy. You... haven't been yourself lately."

"Oh?" Dim Joy crooked her head, looking genuinely curious. "How so?"

"You're not even trying anymore," said Anger. "The number of joyful memories, and mixed memories that include your element have gone way down the last couple of days."

Dim Joy didn't rise from her slouch. She indicated the memory racks, "I made a huge batch of them right before Riley went to sleep."

"Yeah, but is that enough?" Fear added.

Disgust groaned at Dim Joy, "can we... not, talk about your new trick? Like, ever?"

"I don't know what you all want from me," Dim Joy exclaimed at all of them. She stood up and walked over to the control console, the other emotions' facing following her. "Puberty is a huge, huge deal, and I'm Riley's Joy, so of course it's affecting me.

There was a brief pause, "..like Sadness said, we're worried about what you're becoming."

"And I don't have an answer." Dim joy turned around to them, leaning on the edge of the control console, inadvertantly lighting it up with her now orange-ish color. Her tone was sober, calm. "I can't see the future. And odd as it might be for me to say this, there are actually things that are beyond my control."

"Just... just answer this one thing?" Sadness had stepped forward, her hands clasped. She looked on the verge of tears. "You... still want to make Riley happy, right?" She looked up at her, making eye contact. "That's still your goal?"

Dim Joy relaxed in posture, her face softening as she looked down at Sadness. "Yes. More than anything."

Sadness smiled quietly at this, now withdrawn to looking at her own fidgeting hands.

"Go on to sleep, you guys." Dim Joy turned around, to the dream being played on the screen. "I'll watch over Riley tonight."

Joy was backed against the wall. She saw her gun on the ground, several feet ahead of her, nearer to the creature's head. She saw one of its antennae feel it up, touching it several times before losing interest. It continued to make deafening, sickening clicking noises.

There was a sliding noise, coming from above and behind Joy. A new sound. And a new object entered Joy's vision. It was a small, dark purple blob, falling from above, and landing on the ground. It began moving. With short limbs and a stocky round head it scrambled to its feet. It had a rifle in its hand.

Joy recognized him as Omega. "Look out!" She exclaimed to him, fearfully watching the giant exocovering head as one of its antennae found him.

The head snapped to face her, having heard her. The next instant, it darted its massive form right into her, striking the rock wall behind her with its jaws.

Joy had narrowly dove leftward, out of the way. She saw the head from sideways now, and its bull-like neck, covered in overlapping plates. It pulled its jaws out of the stone, its thin, nimble antennae still darting in all places. Its head looked like a mix between an ant and a dragon, with no eyes to speak of.

A gunshot. Omega, to Joy's left farther from the wall, had shot one of its antennae at the base. It responded with a low, constant thrum of loud clicking. The head withdrew from Joy's field of light, followed by rapid, heavy footsteps as it retreated away.

Omega looked down, at Joy still on the ground. He then turned away, walked over and fetched her gun, coming back and presenting it to her handle first.

Joy looked up, at his mouthless face with blank round eyes. There was no point in asking questions. She took the handle of her gun, and he pulled her up on her feet, pulling horizontally, as she was taller than him.

The footsteps returned, growing louder and more rapid. They came from a new direction.

Joy readied her gun, her only defense against the massive creature. She looked at Omega.

He was offering his rifle as well, handle-first.

"Are... you sure?" She asked.

He nodded.

"You have a plan?"

He nodded again.

"Alright." Joy held her rifle in her dominant left hand, and took Omega's in her right. They weren't too heavy, and most of their weight concentrated in the rear where the memory was stored. She could hold them both in balance.

It was immediate. The massive head appeared again in Joy's light field, its antennae scanning relentlessly.

Omega had spawned limbs out from the sides of his back, this time many more than one. His original, humanoid limbs shrank in to nothing as he rose taller on the newly spawned appendages.

Joy saw this, saw that Omega now looked exactly like the Spider which attacked her in Headquarters. But it was not her concern now. Instinctually, out of both fear and desperation, Joy fired both rifles at the giant insect's head. And she continued firing. Its clicking became more intense as it snapped its head in irregular directions, flinching from pain.

Omega had leaped onto the head, climbing like an insect up the eyeless head above the jaws. He grabbed its two flailing antennae as he rapidly climbed up the head's mass, pulling them back and away from the front.

Joy ran away a bit, getting some distance before turning around and resuming firing on the creature's still visible head. With its antennae pulled away, and no sense of sight, it could only make blind, ineffective lunges. At the ground, at the stone, at the thin air, its jaws caught everything but Joy.

The heat beams, fired by the two weapons were burning chunks off the thick exocovering of the creatures head. Joy kept her distance, keeping off to the side a good distance. Moving after every several shots to keep it tracking her through the noise of the rifles. She started focusing her fire at one point, digging deeper into its armor.

The creature charged ahead blindly, now ignoring Joy. She had to dive out of the way to keep it accidentally trampling her. The rest of its body passed her field of light. Its main body was covered in the same overlapping plates as its neck, getting thicker in the middle, before thinning out into a tail in the rear. It ran on six insectoid legs.

It left her field of light, becoming invisible to her as its footsteps grew quieter. Omega was still atop its head as it retreated.

Joy was alone again in her field of light, with the creature somewhere out in the dark. She heard its footsteps, moving to her left, and then over to her right. Coming closer, but then inching away. She was separated from the wall, now standing out in the open floor of the cavern.

Joy lifted the rifle in her left hand, and fired blindly into the dark. The energy beam emitted light, temporarily illuminating the darkness with a dim red glow.

Its jagged silhouette became visible for an instant. And then its footsteps grew louder as it zeroed in on the sound of her gunshot. Joy fired more blasts in that direction, correcting her aim as each shot gave her a brief visual on its location. She was hitting it, and it clicked loud with pain on the consecutive impacts. Omega was nowhere to be seen, and its antennae moved freely.

It became fully visible in her light field as it charged at her. Joy stopped firing and dove out of the way. As it passed her by, one of its wandering antennae touched her, and it stopped itself. The giant insect pivoted, angling its head to snap down on her as the antennae checked her surroundings, sometimes confirming her position by tapping on her again.

Joy turned and ran. She did not want to take a shot at the base of its antennae and risk getting chomped in on by its jaws by remaining where she was. Her aim was still amateur, and would not justify such a risk.

Its heavy footsteps could be heard right behind her as she sprinted through the cave, able to keep her footing on the uneven terrain by her natural light showing the ground several paces ahead of her. The footsteps grew louder. It gained on her. She saw a stalagmite pass through her view on the right. And a broad, protruding rock on her left. Soon she would reach a wall, and become cornered.

She stopped, turned around and lifted her rifles. Firing rapidly and aiming for the base of its antennae. It was more than close enough for her to see its head. Many shots passed overhead. A few hit the general area of its shell.

One hit the base of an antennae.

It clicked in pain as it snapped down on her, homing in on the noise from her gunshots. She dove to the right; the side of the creature with the wounded antennae, narrowly dodging the attack.

A second snap down with its jaws followed only a second after the first, in Joy's direction. It only narrowly missed her. Narrowly, it failed to finish her. With its antennae on that side flagging and weak, it did not reach her to confirm her location.

Joy, still laying on the ground, rolled onto her back and shot it again. But there was no blast. The gun only made a slight hum that eventually coasted down to silence. It was out of anger. She discarded it and scrambled to her feet. The broad rock protruding from the ground was just ahead of her. She reached it, turning around to lean her back to it as she shot the still-pursuing monster with her remaining rifle.

It rapidly closed in on her, only enraged by its wounds. Joy pushed herself back harder into the rock, firing away at its giant, reptillian, insectoid head as it snapped down on her.

And when it did, she was between its jaws.

Dim Joy sighed in relaxation. Her feet up on the console, and a cup of sugary coffee in her hand. She was watching Riley's dream, warm and cozy in her cushy chair.

The dream being depicted was abstract. Swirling colors and rigid ripples of shape. It was soothing, and she could just tune herself out, not having a care in the world.

"Hey, Joy." The voice was Sadness'.

"Top of the evenin' to ya," Dim Joy said, only glancing to Sadness before looking back at the screen. "What's got you up at this hour?"

"I, umm... couldn't sleep like the others. And... I was wandering if..."

Dim Joy shrugged. "I don't see why not. Pull up a seat, Sadness."

She smiled quietly at this as she went and got a chair. She set it next to Dim Joy's; on her right. Once she got settled, Dim Joy pushed a plate of crumpets closer to her. "The dream's going through an abstract phase right now. It's pretty enjoyable, I suppose."

"Yes," said Sadness. "Nonfigurative thoughts. I like when they're slow, and have purple, blue, and other cold colors."

"That would provoke... sad feelings. But also perhaps serenity, calm, introspection."

Sadness nodded at this. "I've learned I like all those things. That you listed, I mean."

"I can see why you'd be cordial with those moods." Dim Joy continued looking on the dream. "A lot of what we call emotions, are really just behavioral patterns, or labels given to experiences of certain flavors. Like giving a name to every different part of the human anatomy. We call them their own thing because they're familiar, and the mind gives it more consideration as a result."

"And..." Sadness looked over at Dim Joy, "this doesn't qualify them as real emotions, necessarily."

"Our position is unique." Dim Joy continued. "We get to see the machinery, the guts. The mind is a mystery to all people. Even modern science has little idea of how the human brain works. It has been said that space is the final frontier. But which do you think humans will successfully explore first: Outer space, or their inner selves?"

Sadness only shrugged at this. "You're asking a really big question. I don't think anybody can see the answer from here."

"I think it can be seen from here. Because it is here." Dim Joy took a sip of coffee and remained reclined back in her chair, watching the abstract dream. "I think, that humans will understand the universe they exist in, long before they understand themselves. We marvel at the mysteries of the universe, but the truth is, human beings are the greatest mystery of all."

"You think... that the human mind is the true final frontier."

"Well isn't it? The human mind is a place where the impossible becomes possible. Where cycles can be broken, rules can have exceptions made for them, and the things that are precious and irreplaceable enthroned. And the mind has the power to make these things happen in the real world as well."

"But there are limits to this power; things in the real world that can't be beaten. There are cycles that can't be broken and precious, irreplaceable things that you have to part with no matter what you do. The mind can't help that. And in many ways it never will."

"That doesn't matter." Dim Joy was shaking her head. "At least, I don't think that matters. No matter how realistic the real world becomes. No matter how grey, and soul-crushing. The mind will always be a place we have. And a place where anything is possible.

Joy was still in one piece. The Creature's horizontal jaws were stopped by the rock right behind her. The jaws' reach went past her, and instead hit the wider rock, with Joy safely between them, unhurt on account of the jaws' inability to reach her.

Its remaining unhurt antennae tapped on her repeatedly, ensuring that she was where she was. It then widened its jaws and chomped down on her again, but was again stopped by the rock it couldn't see, and which its one working antennae failed to notice. It made loud clicking noises.

With her vibrant glow, Joy saw up the span of its head. Saw the gunshot wounds on its exoskeleton, and one in particular which went wide and deep. Her remaining rifle hung at her side. She lifted it, leveled it, and shot the base of its remaining antennae.

It backed away, eminating clicks, and releasing gouts of pressurized breath. Joy had leaped onto its face and climbed up past the jaws, abandoning her gun. It began moving around and thrashing its head as she held onto its roughly formed shell, finding creases in the folds and seams of the exoskeleton to dig her mitts into.

It stopped thrashing its head, and then began running in one direction. She used this chance to climb up more, and reach the deep gunshot wound.

Joy shot her hand into the hole. An emotion, a being of energy, her hand busted the rest of the way through, and burned into its brain.

Riley awoke suddenly. But did not sit up. She reached over and turned on the lamp on her end table. There was something on her forehead, something prickly, and it moved.

"You're awake now, Fear. Are you not going to make her do something?"

"Let's see what it is first, okay? Then she can panic."

Riley gently moved her hand overhead, and picked it up between an index finger and thumb.

It was a boxelder bug; a big one. Its long, ponderous legs were swiping at the air.

"Perfect, a big bug." Disgust said sarcastically.

"No jumpscare, Fear? Your switch is right there."

Fear did nothing. "I don't know why, guys, but right now I don't feel the urge. It's just a bug, right? In fact it's kinda cute."

"Fine, then. Let's just toss the thing and go back to sleep."

"Wait, hold on guys," said Sadness. "Shouldn't we let the bug outside? It feels wrong to just leave him in here where there's no food."

There was groaning, in both Riley's mind, and made in the physical world by her at herself. "Fine, take it away Sadness."

She got out of bed, the boxelder bug still in hand. It was a brief few steps to the window, on the left of the end table and directly across the room from the door. She undid the lock and lifted the window open. There was a screen in place. The screen was there for the purpose of preventing te very thing that woke her from happening. The locks were on the sides of its frame, and she pulled one out, then proceeding to push that lower corner out from its slot with her free hand.

The bug was set near this opening on its feet. "Go on out, now," she whispered to it.

The boxelder bug remained put. Its antennae brushed on the piece of screen frame that was protruding to allow for its opening out, near Riley's index finger. She waited patiently for it to just go, so she could shut everything back up and go back to bed.

After sitting there for many long seconds, the large bug began pivoting, turning away from the opening. Its antennae continued touching everything in reach. Riley frowned with annoyance.

The cavern had dim lights, which awakened as Riley awoke. Minerals, thinly under the peach stone of the walls and ceiling, emitted a weak glow. This rendered the cavern dimly, but universally visible. Like starlight In a cloudless night sky.

The giant bug lay limp on the ground, the hole in its head smoking from Joy's discharge of energy into its brain. Its black exoskeleton was losing its color, transforming from grey, and into white.

Joy herself was looking for Omega. Her own glow being her only source of light limited her search, but when the mineral lights turned on, it wasn't long before she found him, reverted back to his stubby humanoid form and laying unconscious on the ground.

The cavern itself was revealed to be quite vast, with a sky-like ceiling and the ground they were on being an overhead cliff to an even larger floor below, all underneath a consistently spherical dome. Without the giant bug stomping around and clicking, it was quite quiet and peaceful.

Omega was unconscious, and so she couldn't interrogate him. Even if he was, he didn't have a mouth. She had to think of a way to get answers from him. She picked him up and hoisted his rounded form over her shoulders.

Joy took them closer to the wall, and left Omega leaning and sitting against a rock. She then headed toward the cavern wall. The slide she fell through would be too slippery to climb back up, and she needed to find an alternate way out. The other Irregulars were no doubt searching for them, and by extension the same thing.

As Joy toured the wall, she heard a familiar sound. The sound of heavy footsteps, and eerie clicking. She turned around.

The giant bug was on its feet. Its color had changed fully, to a clean white, with golden yellow on the extremities of its plating. The wound on its head was no longer smoking. It had been following her. It did not attack.

Joy planted her hands on her hips. "Are you going to behave yourself, now?"

It made more clicking, standing put. Its voice spoke directly into her mind: You did not destroy me.

Joy smiled perkily. "I'm Joy; It's not in my nature to destroy things. If you'd been up against Anger, however, that'd be a different story." She walked closer to it as she clasped her hands behind her back and hopped up and down on her feet energetically. "What effect has it had, might I ask? Blasting my energy directly into your brain."

More clicking. I... no longer have any desire to disrupt your designs. Your wish to promote joy in this mind, is now my wish as well.

Joy nodded at this. "In that case, do you know a way I can get out of here?"

A small distance further in the direction you were going. And then through a few paces of rock wall. You will then be in the tunnel network dug by the Mind Workers.

"I'm liking what I'm hearing. Go fetch the little guy- don't hurt him. And then meet me at that spot."

It turned around, pivoting in the direction of where she'd left Omega.

"Oh, hey, wait a minute," Joy called after. "What's your name?"

It stopped, and its antennae began moving about again. I am a Primal Fear. Dwelling deep within the reptillian layer of the consciousness. Few minds experience me in more than brief glimpses; moments which come and pass, leaving no lasting impression.

"You're... not a D-Tractor?"

No. I existed long before the D-Tractors.

"Okay..." She was nodding, processing this. "Welp, you're my pal now, and you'll need a name. Got any suggestions?"

I have always been partial to the phrase Onyx Spire.

"Alright..." she was nodding slightly, trying to gel with its interesting taste in names. "But seeing as you've gone through a palette swap, what do you think of Ivory in place of Onyx?"

Very well. It pivoted the rest of the way, heading out to fetch Omega. My name will be Ivory Tower.