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He took in a deep breath and steadied himself, seeing that Worwal was still looking at him. ‘You’re right,’ he told Garovel, and he put the Core back inside his armor. ‘At the very least, we should consult Abbas before pulling another stunt like that.’

‘Mmhmm. And can you imagine how much shit he and Worwal would give us if we just jumped in there, right now? In the middle of the examination, too? We’d look like huge assholes.’

‘Yeah...’

‘But I like your thinking, kid. You’ve got moxie. Don’t lose it, just ‘cuz I’m fightin’ ya on this one.’

Hector frowned inside his helmet. ‘Kid? You’ve never called me kid before.’

‘Yeah, I’m tryin’ it out. Whaddya think?’

‘...I hate it, honestly. From other people, sure. But from you, egh. No.’

The reaper laughed. ‘Alright, fine.’

They decided to wait patiently for Abbas to finish his examination. Hector thought about sitting down and meditating, but it didn’t take much longer for the man to let go of the monument and walk over to them.

‘So what’s the verdict?’ said Garovel publicly.

“It is a magnificent structure,” said Abbas. “The etchings on the surface are almost invisible to the naked eye, but the flow of ardor through them is still pristine. As if they’d been crafted yesterday. That is how you know they are the work of a master integrator. Eliminating all leakage is a thing that even I still struggle with. Fortunately, my work rarely calls for such precision. Machinery will always be in need of repair or refinement, regardless of how much time is spent perfecting the finished product.”

‘...Alright. I’m not too proud to admit that most of that went over my head,’ said Garovel. ‘Was any of that relevant to the issue of creating a new kag?’

“Yes,” said Abbas. “The flawlessness of the etchings will need to be replicated in the kag itself, which will make the project a bit more time-consuming for me. But that is all. I could still manage it in a day. Perhaps a week if I take breaks to work on other projects. You said this was not an urgent matter to you, yes?”

‘We did. Anything else you can tell us about the Gate?’

Abbas’ brow twitched as he eyed Garovel. “You also said this was a long-held project for you. Have you never had anyone else examine this monument?”

Garovel shook his skull. ‘Not this one specifically, no. But others, sure. Many, many years ago.’