MEMELAND

The next morning—

Half of Asphyxia already knew.

"The flying machine came back."

"The drifter brought it."

"Noah hasn't slept."

That last one was true.

Kai yawned as he stepped into the engineering district.

The hovercraft had been moved into one of Eric's unfinished workshops.

Around it...

People had already formed a circle.

Soldiers.

Builders.

Researchers.

Workers pretending not to stare.

Noah was lying underneath the machine.

Only his legs were visible.

Eric stood beside him with a notebook.

"...Interesting."

Kai sighed.

"You two started without me."

Noah's muffled voice came from beneath the craft.

"We looked."

"We didn't touch."

Kai narrowed his eyes.

"...You sure?"

Silence.

Eric adjusted his glasses.

"He touched it."

"I knew it."

Noah slowly crawled out.

Covered in dust.

"I couldn't help myself."

Kai crossed his arms.

"I specifically said—"

"I know."

"I'm sorry."

"...But also not sorry."

Kai pinched the bridge of his nose.

Alice would've probably executed him by now.

Eric walked toward Kai.

"I have questions."

"I figured."

"A lot of questions."

"I figured that too."

Eric pointed toward the underside of the hovercraft.

"The frame."

Kai looked.

"What about it?"

"It shouldn't work."

"...That's reassuring."

Eric ignored the sarcasm.

"The structural support is too light."

"The weight distribution is wrong."

"The lift shouldn't be stable."

He looked genuinely bothered.

"...Yet it is."

Noah suddenly interrupted.

"It isn't using the same principles we use."

Kai blinked.

"What do you mean?"

Noah grabbed a small piece of chalk.

He immediately began drawing on a nearby board.

"Asphyxia."

He drew several mana circles connected together.

"Our infrastructure embeds mana circuits directly into stone."

"The walls become the conductor."

"The building becomes the medium."

Eric nodded.

"Exactly."

"It's efficient."

"It's stable."

"It's easy to maintain."

Noah erased half the drawing.

Then sketched something entirely different.

Metal.

Plates.

Thin lines.

Interlocking symbols.

"This..."

"...is completely different."

Kai stepped closer.

Eric did too.

Noah pointed toward the hovercraft.

"The mana circuits aren't inside the structure."

"They're engraved onto separate metal plates."

"They're modular."

Kai frowned.

"...Modular?"

Eric's eyes widened.

"...Wait."

Noah smiled.

"You see it too?"

Eric slowly nodded.

"If one section breaks..."

"You replace only that section."

"You don't rebuild everything."

Noah grinned.

"Exactly."

Kai looked between them.

"...Is that impressive?"

Both of them turned.

"YES."

The answer came so quickly Kai actually stepped back.

Eric immediately began writing.

"Asphyxia binds mana into architecture."

"Oheyo bound architecture around mana."

Kai tilted his head.

"...What's the difference?"

Eric smiled.

"It changes everything."

He pointed toward one of Asphyxia's unfinished walls outside.

"If that wall collapses..."

"We rebuild the wall."

Then he pointed toward the hovercraft.

"If this breaks..."

"You replace one plate."

"...And keep moving."

Kai looked at the machine again.

"So..."

"It's easier to repair?"

Noah nodded enthusiastically.

"And easier to improve."

"And easier to mass produce."

"And easier to modify."

He paused.

"...Assuming we knew how."

Kai scratched his head.

"I don't."

"I barely got the thing working."

Eric knelt beside the hovercraft.

His fingers traced one of the engraved plates.

"...These aren't mana circuits."

Kai froze.

"What?"

"They look similar."

"But..."

Eric frowned.

"The formula is different."

Noah leaned closer.

"...You're right."

"The symbols resemble mana circuits."

"...But the mathematical arrangement is completely foreign."

Kai remembered something.

"The laboratory."

Both looked up.

Kai continued.

"The Forest laboratory."

"And the one beneath Oheyo."

"They had similar walls."

"They glowed the same way."

Eric slowly stood.

"So the laboratory..."

"...was built using Oheyo engineering."

Kai nodded.

"I think so."

Silence settled over the workshop.

Eric looked toward the hovercraft again.

Then quietly said,

"...No."

Kai blinked.

"What?"

"I was wrong."

Noah looked over.

Eric continued,

"I thought Asphyxia's engineering represented the future."

He rested a hand against the metal frame.

"...But we're centuries behind."

Nobody spoke.

Not because they disagreed.

Because everyone was thinking the same thing.

If a single scavenged hovercraft could make Asphyxia's two greatest engineers question everything they knew...

What had Oheyo truly been capable of?

Noah suddenly laughed.

A dangerous laugh.

Kai recognized it immediately.

"Oh no."

Eric sighed.

"...He's thinking."

Noah's eyes practically sparkled.

"If we can understand this..."

"We could revolutionize transportation."

"Freight."

"Construction."

"Military logistics."

"Civilian travel."

His grin grew wider.

"And if we combine Oheyo's modular engineering..."

He looked at Eric.

"...with Asphyxia's embedded mana infrastructure..."

Eric slowly smiled.

"...We might create something neither civilization ever achieved."

Kai immediately took one step backward.

"No."

Both engineers looked at him.

"No?"

"No."

"I'm not leaving this thing alone with you two."

Noah looked offended.

"We're scientists."

Kai pointed at the hovercraft.

"And that's exactly why."

Eric actually laughed.

"...Fair."

Noah sighed dramatically.

"...Fine."

"We'll wait."

Kai narrowed his eyes.

"...Until?"

Noah smiled.

"Until you give us permission."

Kai looked at Eric.

Eric quietly looked away.

"...He has already prepared measuring tools."

Kai slowly turned back toward Noah.

There were indeed measuring tools hidden behind him.

"...You planned this."

"...Maybe."

Kai sighed.

"I've made a terrible mistake bringing this back."

Outside—

Workers continued rebuilding Asphyxia.

Inside—

Two engineers had just discovered that the greatest kingdom in history had solved problems they had never even considered.

And somewhere beneath the sands of Oheyo...

Countless more secrets still waited.

Kai thought to himself about Munnu, the one who put things together and making it work.

"If you were still here..."

Maybe things would've been different.