Chương 34: 33: The Nonagon

The facility Katherine had somehow ended up sitting sideways in Butter's lap again. Neither of them had acknowledged when it happened. The oversized sofa Butter had drawn was ridiculously comfortable, buried beneath enough cushions to qualify as a small fortress. Katherine leaned comfortably against Butter's shoulder while Butter balanced her phone in one hand, lazily scrolling through videos. A raccoon stole an entire pizza and immediately tripped over a garden hose. Katherine burst into laughter.

"Oh no..." Butter smiled around the sour candy she was chewing.

"Told you." The next video featured a goose relentlessly chasing a bodybuilder around a public park.

"…Why is he running?" Katherine asked between laughs.

"Because that goose has confidence."

"I think it has unresolved issues."

"Mhm." The goose won. Katherine applauded.

"Deserved." Butter swiped again. A cat dramatically fainted after seeing a cucumber.

"…Cats are strange."

"So are humans."

"Can't argue with that." Another swipe. A man attempted an elaborate backflip into a swimming pool. He missed. Butter winced.

"Ooh..."

"He's going to feel that tomorrow."

"If he survives today." Katherine giggled, absently unwrapping another toffee and holding it toward Butter without thinking. Butter accepted it just as absentmindedly.

"Thanks, Honeycakes."

"You're welcome, Sugarbear." They fell into comfortable silence, watching the next ridiculous clip while Katherine rested against Butter's chest. Somewhere beneath the oversized beanie, Butter's chin occasionally brushed the top of Katherine's head whenever she laughed.

"…You know," Katherine murmured, eyes still on the phone, "this is a really weird friendship." Butter blinked.

"How so?"

"Well..." Katherine gestured vaguely with the hand not holding the toffee.

"I'm cuddling an eldritch girl while watching raccoons commit theft inside a secret underground super-facility." Butter considered it.

"I guess so." Katherine smiled.

"I like it." Butter's expression softened.

"… Me too." The next video had barely begun when the low, eternal thrum of the chamber shifted. BMMMMMMMM. A deep, resonant vibration that didn't disturb the air so much as the concept of silence itself. The wrongness settled into Katherine's bones like a toothache in the soul. Butter's head snapped up. Katherine flinched, nearly dropping the half-eaten toffee in her hand. Both turned toward the far wall. One section of the hexagonal amber grid had warped. It was swallowing light.

The space surrounding the cell connected to Katherine's dormant pod puckered like heated glass. Air thickened into visible gravitational lensing. The steady amber glow had become a violent cobalt so deep it seemed to drain color from everything nearby. Veins of impossible void-black spread through the crystal, threaded with crackling silver lightning frozen inside a midnight sea. A shape began to emerge from the chaos, resolving into hard geometric certainty. Butter was on her feet before she realized she'd moved.

Her hand shot out and struck Katherine's sternum with a soft thump, sending her stumbling backward.

"What's happening?" Katherine gasped. Butter didn't answer. She stared at the cell, pink eyes wide with something rarer than battle focus. Incomprehension.

"How…" The word barely escaped her lips.

"How? What exactly… what in the screaming void did you dream about, Honeycakes?" Her voice climbed, stripped of control.

"How did you brew something that's never been made before?" Katherine crept closer, half-hidden behind Butter's rigid frame. Inside the warped cell, the energy solidified. Nine sides. A perfect, pulsing, reality-warping nonagon.

"You said…" Katherine whispered.

"Spheres, triangles… the hexagon was just a theory. Unstable."

"The hexagon is a catastrophe waiting to happen." Butter spun and seized Katherine's shoulders, her grip painfully tight.

"A sphere core powers a metropolis for a decade. A triangular prism powers a continent for a generation. A hexagon's theoretical density is planetary. It could power the entire Earth for a century. That's why nobody can stabilize one in a suit. The chassis would consume itself trying to contain the output. Enforcers compress that energy into their armor. It gives them conceptual defenses, temporal processing, local reality editing." She shook Katherine once, desperate rather than angry.

"A nonagon? Honeycakes, that could power a solar system for eons. Do you understand what happens if something like this gets weaponized? If a Talon's suit runs on that?" Katherine stared.

"Uh… they'd be really, really strong?"

"Not strong!" Butter shouted, releasing her and ripping off her beanie. Trembling fingers raked through white hair.

"They'd be sovereign. They could assign conceptual laws as easily as breathing.

'Gravity ceases here.'

'This air is acid.'

'Your memories belong to me.' They could unwrite the planet in an afternoon. It's apotheosis." Her voice thinned.

"It's unfathomable. I can't even model the failure physics. We have to get it out. Now. Before whatever remains of the Syndicate notices." Katherine nodded mutely. Butter was already moving. The Aria materialized in her hand. She flipped to a blank page and drew a covenant. A rough brown leather satchel appeared on the floor, etched with shimmering silver runes that coiled like living serpents. Binding laws. Dimensional buffers.

"This should suppress its resonance long enough to..." Butter turned. Katherine was already holding the Nonagon. In her bare hand. Cradling it like a smooth stone lifted from a riverbed. Butter physically staggered backward.

"How are you doing that?" The question emerged as a fraying whisper.

"Doing what?"

"You should be vaporized." Butter's voice cracked.

"Your nervous system should be abstract art. This is insane. I can't…" Her breathing accelerated. The Gloom around her flickered erratically. Yellow sharpened with anxiety. Blue frayed with cognitive dissonance. Red pulsed with adrenaline. Katherine stepped forward. With her free hand, she gently took Butter's trembling fingers and folded them over her own, the Nonagon pulsing softly between their palms.

"It's alright," she said.

"You're exhausted. You've been fighting gods. You've been through a lot. I think you're having a panic attack." The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Butter blinked.

"But I can probably hold it because my dreams made it." Katherine's gaze drifted for a moment.

"I remember everything when I touch it. Lysander's smile. Our wedding in the glass gardens. Kaelen's harsh words. Slither's kiss. My parents' lies. The Architects and their cold design. It's all still here." She squeezed Butter's hand.

"It's just data. My data." The simple certainty in her voice anchored something. Butter took a long, shaky breath. The chaotic colors around her gradually settled into a weary simmer. She nodded once, sharp and jerky, then lifted the enchanted satchel. Katherine dropped the Nonagon inside. The instant it crossed the threshold, the warping vanished. The soul-aching hum ceased. The satchel bulged slightly, then fell still. Like an ordinary leather bag.

A leather bag containing what was, for all practical purposes, a dormant supernova. Silence lingered for a few seconds. Then Katherine raised a hand. Butter stared at her. Katherine lowered it slightly.

"... Is now a bad time to ask what 'apotheosis' means?" Butter blinked.

"Honeycakes."

"Right. Bad time."

"No, no. It's fine." Butter waved a hand. Katherine pointed at the satchel.

"You started yelling about sovereignty and rewriting reality and then called it an apotheosis. I kind of got distracted by the possible solar-system-ending artifact." Butter crouched beside the bag as though checking it wouldn't suddenly hatch.

"Apotheosis means becoming a god. Or something close enough that the distinction stops mattering." Katherine gasped.

"Yeah." Butter jabbed a thumb toward the satchel.

"That thing isn't a bigger battery. A bigger battery is a hexagon. A nonagon starts drifting into the territory where physics becomes a strongly worded suggestion."

"That sounds bad."

"That's because it is bad." Katherine nodded thoughtfully.

"So... apotheosis is when someone gets enough power to become divine?"

"Basically." She paused.

"Though personally, I think anyone who calls themselves a god after getting more power is immediately proving they shouldn't have it."

"That seems reasonable."

"Thank you. Finally, someone gets it." Butter didn't pause. She flipped through the Aria, movements quick but precise, and pulled forth a necklace: an amethyst gem the size of a robin's egg set in delicate silver filigree, glowing with a soft inner light.

"Here. Sonata. A sustained defensive lullaby. It can tank multiple direct hits from anything short of a Saturn-vaporizing event. I designed it when I was fifteen. It won't make you a fighter, but it should keep you alive if something... looks at you too hard." Katherine took it. The metal was cool, and as she fastened it around her neck, soothing purple light washed across her skin and settled into a faint shimmering aura. A profound sense of safety wrapped around her, like being swaddled in solidified peace.

"Well," Katherine said with a shaky smile, "I hope I never have to test it. Sonata, huh? Another musical name. Nice." Butter managed a faint smirk. Then she flipped another page. A second necklace appeared. This one was far simpler: a smooth gray teardrop carved from polished marble, hanging from a black cord. As Butter slipped it over her head, the stone awakened, casting a soft silver glow across her skin and white hair. It wasn't warm or comforting like Sonata's violet aura. It felt quiet. Enduring.

Katherine blinked.

"What's that one?" Butter tapped the stone.

"Requiem. Holds about twice the force Sonata can."

"Twice?"

"Mmhm."

"Then why didn't you give me that one?"

"Because it's awful." Katherine frowned. Butter scratched the back of her head.

"It only blocks about seventy-five percent of incoming pain. The other twenty-five gets through." Katherine stared.

"That sounds terrible."

"It is terrible."

"Then why wear it?" Butter shrugged, silver light glinting across her.

"Fluffy design, I know. But I'll take anything right now." She gave the pendant a small pat.

"Besides, pain I can handle. Dying is way more inconvenient." Katherine glanced between the glowing amethyst around her neck, the silver-lit marble hanging from Butter's, and the satchel in her hands containing what was, for all practical purposes, a dormant supernova.

"Wait." Butter looked up.

"Why are we wearing these? Are we leaving?"

"Yes." The answer came immediately.

"Leaving right now?" Butter nodded.

"We can't stay here anymore. Not with that thing." She pointed at the satchel.

"For all I know, the Nonagon might decide to explode. Or hatch. Or start singing. I have no idea. It's beyond anything I know how to model." Katherine shifted the satchel slightly.

"Couldn't one of your summons take it somewhere?" Butter's expression tightened.

"I thought about that. The problem is, this wasn't made by me. It was made by you. Through whatever cosmic fever dream your brain cooked up." She scratched her cheek.

"If I hand it to one of my summons, there's a chance it starts interacting with my creation. Maybe it takes control. Maybe it rewrites something. Maybe nothing happens. The issue is I don't know, and that's usually when reality starts getting creative." Katherine winced.

"There's another problem," Butter continued.

"If we leave this place and abandon the Nonagon here, it might trigger some buried Syndicate monitoring system. If that happens, every surviving Syndicate lunatic starts looking for it."

"And innocent people get caught in the middle."

"Yes." Butter pointed at her.

"Gold star." Katherine nodded slowly.

"So our best option is dealing with it here."

"Contain it, convince it to stop existing, whatever works." Butter shrugged.

"And if there's opposition, we deal with that too." She began jogging in place, loosening up her shoulders and stretching her arms.

"Besides, I'm not in the mood for punching and kicking anymore." Katherine raised an eyebrow.

"You?"

"I know. Character development." Butter pointed at herself.

"I've been punched through mountains, exploded, traumatized, emotionally devastated, and had multiple panic attacks in less than twenty-four hours. If somebody shows up trying to be all strong and dramatic, I'm not fist-fighting them."

"What are you doing instead?"

"Glissando." Katherine grimaced.

"Or Perpendosi."

"That sounds bad."

"It is worse." Butter continued stretching.

"I'm firmly in the 'skip the boss fight' stage of my decision-making process." Then her expression grew serious.

"Honeycakes." The change in tone immediately got her attention.

"What?" Butter pointed toward her prosthetic leg.

"Listen carefully. If my leg starts glowing red, you immediately go into the Snack Dimension."

"Immediately?"

"Immediately."

"Why?"

"My reserves are low." The silver light of Requiem shimmered faintly across her skin.

"I've been burning through power faster than I can recover it. If I start throwing around multiple high-end attacks right now..." She grimaced.

"It'll overload?"

"Maybe. My emotional state is already unstable. The prosthetic was built to compensate for that, but if I push too hard, it'll start screaming at me." Katherine glanced down at the leg.

"And red means?"

"Red means it's no longer asking politely." That got a laugh out of her.

"I'm serious, Honeycakes." Butter pointed at her again.

"If it starts blazing red, you don't argue, you don't ask questions, and you definitely don't try to help. You grab the satchel, jump into the Snack Dimension, and stay there." Katherine looked at the concern hidden beneath Butter's joking tone and nodded.

"Promise."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Butter relaxed slightly.

"Good." Katherine adjusted the satchel strap over her shoulder while Butter checked Requiem's chain one last time. Silver and violet light mingled around them, casting long reflections across the endless rows of pods.

"Alright," Butter said, turning toward the exit.

"Let's go figure out how to dispose of a solar-system-grade problem before it decides it wants a promotion."

"Wait." Butter paused. Katherine shifted the satchel on her shoulder.

"What now?"

"Can I have a hug?" Butter snorted.

"Come here, Honeycakes." She opened her arms. Katherine stepped forward immediately and wrapped her arms around Butter's waist. Butter hugged her back, expecting the usual quick squeeze, only for Katherine to tighten her grip and bury her face against her chest. Butter's expression softened.

"You okay?"

"I am now." For a moment neither moved. The chamber hummed around them. Then Katherine tilted her head up.

"Can I have a kiss?" Butter rolled her eyes.

"Sure." She leaned down and kissed Katherine's forehead.

"There." Katherine frowned.

"That wasn't the one I meant." Butter immediately knew where this was going.

"No."

"Aww."

"No."

"Just one."

"Nope." Katherine pointed at her own lips. Butter pointed at the floor.

"Absolutely not." Katherine's eyes narrowed mischievously. Butter recognized that look a fraction too late.

"Katherine, don't..." Katherine leaned forward, stole a quick kiss, then immediately sprinted away.

"HA!" Butter froze. Katherine was already halfway across the room laughing so hard she nearly tripped over her own feet.

"You little menace!" Katherine pointed triumphantly.

"You hesitated!"

"I hesitated because my brain was trying to process your audacity!"

"Sounds like hesitation to me!" Butter stared at her for a second before sighing. Then she laughed.

"Unfathomable." Still shaking her head, she reached into empty air and pulled out a bottle of strawberry soda as though reality were a poorly organized refrigerator. Without looking, she tossed it toward Katherine. Katherine caught it.

"Thanks." She glanced at the label.

"... I want blueberry." Butter groaned. She snapped her fingers. A blueberry one appeared in Katherine's hand. Katherine smiled victoriously.

"There we go."

"You know, most people would be grateful."

"Most people don't have access to infinite snack dimensions."

"It's not infinite."

"You get the point." Butter pulled a second drink from nowhere, cracked it open, and took a sip. Katherine did the same. For a brief moment, standing amid endless nightmare pods with a universe-breaking artifact slung over her shoulder, everything felt strangely normal. Then Butter pointed toward the exit with her bottle.

"Alright. Hugs, kisses, beverages, emotional support, and fruit-based negotiations are officially concluded." Katherine grinned.

"Now we save the world?" Butter took another sip.

"Now we try very hard to prevent your handbag from becoming a historical event." — The polished stone corridor stretched before them, wide enough to drive a tank through, vaulted ceilings lost in shadow. Exquisite leaded-glass windows cast intricate patterns of moonlight across the floor. The walls flowed with abstract carvings that might have been art or containment runes. Ornate brass lamps glowed warm and steady.

It felt less like a military base and more like the castle of a billionaire vampire scientist from one of Katherine's darker fantasy novels, a place where cruelty wore elegance. Butter walked ahead, posture rigid with a discomfort that went beyond pain. Every sense stretched taut, listening through the hum of distant machinery and the whisper of their footsteps. She didn't like this. The opulence was a mask. The silence was a trap. Katherine followed close behind, clutching the enchanted satchel to her chest.

The Nonagon inside was silent, but its presence pressed cold and dense against her ribs. A shadow moved at the far end of the corridor. Butter saw it instantly. She didn't tense. Her eyes merely lowered to a half-lidded stare as one hand drifted up, palm outward. A Glissando sat ready at her fingertips, prepared to obliterate whatever emerged before it became a problem. Footsteps approached. A man rounded the corner. Both girls blinked.

The stranger was dressed in what appeared to be an alarming amount of black leather straps, buckles, and shiny metal rings. He hurried along at a brisk pace as though catastrophically late for an appointment.

"Lovely day, eh, ladies?" he called in a cheerful accent while jogging past.

"Be careful around here. Lots of weirdos about." He continued three more steps. Something fell from his pocket. Clink. The object bounced once across the polished floor. The man froze. Butter and Katherine stared. The man stared. Without a word, he sprinted back, snatched up what looked suspiciously like a jeweled butt plug, gave them a quick thumbs-up, and immediately resumed running.

"Right then! Cheers!" And he was gone. Silence reclaimed the corridor. Butter slowly lowered her hand. Katherine looked at her. Butter looked at Katherine.

"What," Katherine said at last, "was that?" Butter considered the question with all the seriousness of a scholar confronting an unsolved mystery.

"I don't think," she said carefully, "I want to know." Katherine nodded.

"Yeah." They stood there another second. Then Butter pointed down the corridor.

"Let's keep moving before we find out."