That day, the weather was... weirdly perfect.

  The twin suns didn't feel like they were trying to roast me alive for once. The breeze was cool. Sharp, even.

  Had the season changed? Was I about to experience my first alien winter?

  How exciting. Truly living the dream!

  Chama-Fish had agreed to stick around a little longer. But not just that. He'd even offered to help me with my little project, if I needed it.

  Which, let’s be honest, I definitely did. But my pride prevented me from doing so, at least at the beginning.

  I had to be creative.

  Creating a coordinate system wouldn't be easy. Besides, I wasn't just gonna slap down a few markers and call it a day. No, no...

  I wanted a HUD. A sweet, glowing little interface floating in front of my eyes.

  A live map. Coordinates. The whole package.

  You know, to make up for the system I never got.

  Was that possible? I had no idea.

  But I had something going for me.

  My brain.

  Math. Programming. Physics.

  Stuff I never thought I'd actually use again.

  You'd think a couple of years in the alien wasteland, almost dying a few times, and some tragedies later, unnecessary data like that would've been erased. But nope.

  It was all still up there, gathering dust… waiting for a moment like this.

  Thanks, math teacher. Looks like trigonometry finally paid off.

  "So, Chama-Fish. Here's the thing. I want to build a map. Not just any map, a live, self-updating, always-on map that records every place I visit. And it needs an interface. Floating right in front of my face. In green. I like green."

  Chama-Fish scratched what I think was his chin, tilting his head like he was deciding whether to call me a genius or a complete idiot. Finally, he nodded.

  But his eyes… narrowed.

  His aura shifted, just enough for me to pick up the message.

  Damn.

  It was possible. But it wasn’t free.

  The cost? Constant mental strain.

  Keeping something like that running all the time… saving data… recalling it later…

  It would burn through my focus like wildfire. Of course it would. Nothing’s ever easy, is it?

  It wasn't all bad news, though.

  After silently stewing on my insane request, Chama-Fish tapped his forehead and began channeling his aura again.

  I leaned in, curious…

  And damn, it was complicated.

  Layers of energy twisting, looping, weaving together like a living circuit board. I’d never seen anything like it.

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  It didn’t take long to figure out what it was doing.

  Strengthening the mind. Boosting focus. Increasing endurance.

  In other words… a cultivation technique.

  The kind of thing that Murim martial artists would sell their own grandmothers for.

  Of course, there was a catch.

  Chama-Fish made it very clear, painfully clear, that mastering it would take a long, long time.

  And even then, there was no guarantee I'd reach the mental capacity needed to actually pull off my little homemade HUD.

  Figures. Nothing's ever easy when you're me.

  Disappointed, I let myself fall back onto the ground with a heavy breath.

  Chama-Fish would be leaving soon. And part of me… yeah, part of me wanted to go with him.

  But another part…

  Another part wanted to stay right there.

  In that broken little house.

  I didn’t even know why I felt so attached to it.

  I mean, staying meant giving up.

  It meant throwing away everything I’d fought for.

  It meant letting go of that tiny, stupid hope that maybe… someday… I’d see them again.

  My family.

  But the truth is…

  I was tired. So damn tired.

  And maybe… maybe I just wanted to stop for a while.

  Or forever.

  That’s when Chama-Fish placed one his scaly hands on my shoulder.

  I looked up, empty. Tired.

  But he just stood there, watching me…

  His aura shifted. Barely a flicker, but I saw it. I felt it.

  Don't give up. Not yet.

  Just because I couldn’t build my perfect little HUD right now… didn’t mean it was over.

  He could help me make a marker.

  Something simple. Something I could follow.

  A way to come back home when I was ready.

  My chest tightened. This time not from pain, but hope.

  I felt my eyes go wide. My jaw dropped.

  And then…

  "OH MAGNIFICENT CHAMA-FISH! WHAT WOULD I EVER DO WITHOUT YOU?! GREAT MESSIAH OF THIS BARREN LAND! MASTER OF PURPLE ENERGY! ARCHITECT OF THE ABSOLUTE! TEACH ME YOUR WAYS, YOU COSMIC LIZARD-FISH KING!"

  So, we started getting ready.

  I had to pack all my belongings. And by all, I mean Waldo.

  Yeah, just Waldo.

  Even if the stubborn bastard was giving me the silent treatment, I wasn’t about to leave him behind.

  Not after everything we’d… not talked about lately.

  Chama-Fish, meanwhile, started doing something weirdly impressive.

  He channeled his aura through all six of his creepy lizard-fish arms, then pointed them at the house.

  For a second, nothing happened.

  Then...

  BOOM.

  A massive purple marker flared to life right above the roof, glowing like some cosmic neon sign.

  “But Keegan,” I hear you asking, “what if you travel so far that you lose sight of it?”

  Good question, little reader.

  Turns out, that wasn’t just for show.

  The thing radiated energy like a mini reactor meltdown.

  I could feel it. Not just see it.

  And if Chama-Fish wasn’t overselling it, I’d be able to track that marker even from the other side of the damn planet.

  I grabbed my trusty old pajama backpack, still holding strong after all these years, and strapped it onto my back.

  "Waldo, you good back there?"

  Silence. Of course.

  Tsk.

  Whatever. It was time to hit the road.

  I turned to Chama-Fish and gave him a thumbs-up.

  He…

  …gave me six thumbs-up in return.

  I don’t know why that felt so threatening.

  We started walking, heading north. Or… what I called north. Directions were kind of a vibe out there.

  Traveling with Chama-Fish turned out to be weirdly entertaining.

  Every so often, we’d stop to farm aura, and he’d hand me these random strips of dried meat.

  Don’t ask me what they were made of. No idea. But damn, they were delicious.

  Way better than the sludge I’d been chugging all this time.

  Not that I’d stopped drinking it, of course.

  Every time we passed a pool of black elixir, I’d scoop up a handful and gulp it down like a fine wine connoisseur.

  Chama-Fish would just stare, head tilted, not saying a word.

  Honestly…

  I was starting to think I was the only one enjoying this liquid masterpiece.

  Their loss.

  The wasteland was changing. Subtly, but definitely changing.

  The jagged mountains that had loomed on the horizon for so long had vanished behind us.

  The ground felt even drier, like every drop of moisture had given up and moved to a better planet.

  And the air…

  It was perfect.

  Not hot. Not cold.

  Day or night, two suns or none… the temperature never changed.

  Too perfect.

  On the ninth day of our journey, we found it.

  A cave.

  Chama-Fish raised a hand, gesturing for me to follow.

  I didn’t even hesitate. Honestly, at this point, he could rip out my organs and sell them on the alien black market, and I’d probably thank him for the company.

  The entrance loomed like a massive open mouth, swallowing what little sunlight managed to reach this far.

  I took a step inside.

  "Echo!" I shouted.

  The walls answered… again, and again, and again.

  The deeper we walked, the brighter the green crystals on the ceiling began to glow, casting eerie reflections on the slick stone walls.

  And then…

  We reached it.

  A rough stone altar, carved into the cave floor like it had been there for centuries.

  And sitting on top of it, a familiar liquid.

  Thick. Murky. Alien.

  Not black.

  Not yellow.

  But green.

  Green alien sludge.