The magic was running out. Oh, people had worried about it before. People were always saying the magic was running out. No one listened to them. Or if they did, they stopped listening to them after the magic kept coming and didn't run out after all. But this time the magic really was running out. This time there weren't any new secret sources of magic to mine. There wasn't a pocket dimension they could pop and eat the innards of anymore. No miraculous discoveries. Not even a higher magic conversion rate to do things 'cheaper, faster, longer.' All of that had been invented already. Their magic was at the limit set by the laws of physics. Their civilization was old enough and smart enough that problems couldn't be 'fixed' anymore. All fixable problems were fixed. It was the problems they couldn't fix that kept coming back to haunt them.

　　The problem was they were all going to die.

　　"So it's a dead end, isn't it?" Cyan, who had been waiting pensively a few paces away for the results, asked Awesome grimly. Could he read my face so easily? I guess if we live as long as we do, friends start knowing what their friend is going to say before they say it. One of the inconveniences of having fixed every fixable problem. Awesome tried a one-sided smile and bit his cheek. No point trying to hide the results of the study from Cyan now.

　　"It's a dead end. We're Dead Enders now. Wyrds are a dead end."

　　Cyan looked a little sick. Those words weren't thrown around lightly. Calling someone a Dead Ender was, well, discourteous to say the least. Of course, Cyan wasn't trying to keep his face straight because of a bad word. It's for the same reason I can't keep my face straight. It's because we don't want to be Dead Enders. It's because dead ends are horrible.

　　I didn't ask for this, Awesome thought. I didn't plan on being born in time to see the whole world end. I didn't try to be alive to watch civilization collapse and the future become a flat line leading nowhere. I didn't live or think like a Dead Ender. But here I am. Like some sort of criminal. I guess it's my fault as much as anyone else's. I eat magic too.

　　"So now what?" Cyan asked. It's not that Cyan was dumber than Awesome. Cyan just thought best through conversation. By prodding. Making Awesome keep up and lead him somewhere new. But the whole point of a dead end is that there was no answer to "now what?" Or "What next?" or "What now?" or "What's the plan?" or "What do we do?" The whole point of dead ends is that they ended. That's all they did. We die and then it's over. We're Dead Enders now. Dead people waiting for the end. End points waiting to die.

　　"Nothing. I told you. My scrying. . .my scrying says the magic is running out. My scrying says there's nowhere else to find it and no way to make any more. My scrying says we've been so brilliant that we managed to try every trick the universe ever had. My scrying says there's maybe two hundred years left of magic at current consumption. Maybe we could drag it out, go on half rations. Or maybe we could kill each other in a giant war and a few Wyrds could live much longer. What does it matter? We've done everything we can. Invented every invention and done everything there was to do. In the end, no matter how few Wyrds there are, they'll run out of magic and die someday too. It's a dead end. There is no future possibility branch whichever path I scry."

　　"There has to be something we can do." Cyan insisted. Cyan wouldn't cry. Cyan wouldn't go into hysterics. Cyan was calm. Never feeling something so deeply that it cut to the quick. As if he knew exactly how far he could care about something before there was no recovering from it, and pulled away right at the brink. Cyan was taking this better than Awesome. Awesome felt awful. Awesome felt like he may as well faint right here where he stood. Only that might distress Cyan, Awesome collapsing right in front of him while they were having a conversation. I can always wail in despair and run in circles after he's gone.

　　"I should tell Magnolia." Awesome decided. Cyan asked what they could do. Well, he could go tell Magnolia that there was nothing they could do anymore. That was something. All the Wyrds had a right to know. But Magnolia was his friend. She had a right to know these things first.

　　"Have you looked for Choice Givers?" Cyan pursued.

　　"Of course I looked for Choice Givers. Look for yourself if you don't believe me." Awesome felt a little insulted. I mean, I guess there was no point feeling insulted when you'd already called yourself a Dead Ender. But how could anyone be such a bungling amateur as to not check for Choice Givers from the very beginning? Wherever there were still Choice Givers, there were still infinite possibilities. A Choice Giver meant the universe still had a choice. A Choice Giver meant Wyrds wouldn't reach any dead ends. Previous Wyrds had scryed before, and there had always been choices as far as they could see. But that just meant the end wasn't close enough, their scrying wasn't good enough, to see that it all led to dead ends. In a way, Choice Givers were just an illusion. Apparently Wyrds had been a dead end species to begin with. We were a dead end the day we were born. But, Choice Givers weren't a bad idea. They gave us hope. They made us feel good. They kept us alive as long as we could, and made us as strong and wise as we could ever be. It just feels a little treacherous for the Choice Givers of the past to deliver us up to a dead end like this. The whole point of following the Choice Givers was to not reach a dead end. They tricked us. Or God tricked us. Or we tricked ourselves. Choice is such a stupid concept. I can't choose to stop eating. I can't choose whether I'm born or not. Choices that don't matter and choices we want to take so much it doesn't matter we can technically 'choose' something else. Were those the only choices Choice Givers gave us? Was it all for this? We were supposed to have infinite possibilities. Scrying was supposed to be blindingly beautiful as the branches spread and spread like a fractal until your whole consciousness hummed and whirled with it and you couldn't hold onto the vision any longer. Choice Givers were supposed to give us that. Not the choices we had left for the next two hundred years. Like how and when to die, and whether we would try killing each other off first to live a little longer.

　　Awesome knew some Wyrds would. Wyrds loved to keep their options open. No two Wyrds thought exactly the same. Once the news was out, some Wyrds would start killing. Then other Wyrds would start killing to defend themselves. Then leagues of Wyrds would start killing and defending together. And the magic would dwindle away.

　　Was there a point to dying morally? Bravely? With dignity? Was it meaningful for Wyrds to keep living the same way, without flinching or deviating, to the very end? Would we be proving something? To whom? God? Ourselves? Look, our souls, our civilization, couldn't be broken. Only our material bodies. We died. But nothing defeated us. We lived how we pleased until the very end, beholden to no one and afraid of nothing. That did sound better than a civil war followed by some stupid tribe of Wyrds somewhere living it up for another million eons. The look of people going about their daily lives until they suddenly keeled over, right in the middle of shopping and visiting and going to school. . .surely that was better than the smug faces of murderers living it up and pretending nothing was wrong drinking tea or something on a mountain of corpses. That was sick.

　　"Are you sure you looked for Choice Givers?" Cyan came out of his trance. Cyan always took Awesome literally. Awesome was the best scryer in the universe. And now Cyan was insulting him again?

　　"Yes, I'm sure." Awesome said, the irritation in his voice impossible to restrain.

　　"Let's go see Magnolia then." Cyan said. "I want to ask her to check for Choice Givers."

　　"Is this a running joke? Let's all forget we're Dead Enders and make fun of Awesome?" Awesome guessed it could be something like that. Cyan was so calm sometimes you couldn't tell he was joking.

　　Cyan smiled and shook his head. So. Not a joke, and not an insult. Well, nothing would change until they saw Magnolia.

　　Cyan and Awesome got on the starway and whisked along, letting the currents take them. Yep, that's me. Eating magic. Every mile of the journey. Sorry everyone. But what am I supposed to do? Huddle at home for the rest of my life for another few seconds? For another day? I refuse. I know what I'm going to do now. Not run in circles or any of that. I've decided to live like I didn't know the future. I'll live my days to my fullest and what will be will be. I have to prove to myself that I can die with dignity.

　　"Did you catch the Bulls game?" Awesome asked, since the star currents could only go so fast and they may as well say something.

　　"Yes." Cyan smiled. "Did you?"

　　"No." Awesome blushed. I'm so bad at small talk. Thank God Magnolia doesn't care about stuff like that. Magnolia loves me for talking about larger stuff.

　　Cyan thought about telling him how the game went. Awesome could tell it from his face. But then Cyan shrugged and looked away. It was the same look as when he had shook his head earlier. Was that hope? Or was Awesome just inventing the feelings he wanted to see in his friend's eyes? I don't know. I guess I'm in some sort of shock and clutching at straws. Could I have possibly not checked properly for all Choice Givers? Impossible. The time stretched out and neither of them seemed to want to talk anymore.

　　I'll find out his secret when we tell Magnolia.

* * *

　　"Shiori!" Kotone waved, as though Shiori had somehow missed her and hadn't seen her yet. Shiori Rin smiled. It felt good to be welcomed so warmly. It felt good that Kotone was so excited to see her she had to shout and wave. Maybe Kotone would feel as good as I do if I acted excited too?

　　"Kotone!" Shiori shouted and waved, running the rest of the way, her school uniform whisking and flapping and her shoes clopping against the cement sidewalk without an ounce of self-dignity. Shiori Rin was thirteen years old, a first year student in middle school. She didn't need to have any self dignity. She needed to show Kotone how happy she was to see her.

　　Kotone Nakano was beautiful. She had pale, unblemished skin. She was tall and her hands and feet were small and proportionate. Her whole body seemed to fit with itself. She smiled all the time and the smiles always lit up her eyes. Kotone didn't need any woman's curves or extra flesh to be beautiful. That was inevitable. That was easy. Every girl would get those. She was beautiful because she had what every girl didn't have and never would. She had everything else.

　　Shiori Rin didn't mind. No one thought she was ugly. She thought she was pretty when she looked in the mirror. There wasn't anything she hated about herself, except maybe her waist. She kept pinching her waist and asking her mother if she should lose weight, but mother told her a little fat was healthy for a growing girl and to stop worrying and eat whatever she liked. Shiori Rin wasn't fat. She was athletic. She practiced Taekwondo every weekend if not every day. She was in the softball club and was the star of the team. But still, she could pinch her waist. Shiori bet Kotone couldn't pinch her waist. Kotone had no flaws.

　　Kotone Nakano hugged her, and then eventually retreated to just holding her hand. "It's been so long! Did you finish your summer homework?"

　　"Of course. I'm thirteen years old. I know what's expected of me." Shiori couldn't stop smiling though. They'd gone swimming together, Kotone, Shiori and Chiharu. They'd gone to the beach together. They'd slept in a cabin together and stayed up as late as they could talking and looking at the stars. Shiori Rin had no idea what they had talked about. Maybe softball. Chiharu was on the softball team too. Kotone wasn't. She played the flute. Kotone's skin was too light to waste playing softball out in the sun. Though I'm sure Kotone wasn't so vain to think of it that way. It's just that she liked flutes and orchestras and music more than sports. I was NOT being jealous or envious or sniping at her in my mind. I was not.

　　"An entire summer, and I only saw you three times." Kotone pouted. "What on Earth were we doing this entire vacation? Three times. I got to see my best friend three times. It's like I was working a job overseas or something. But we're just a few blocks away."

　　"Our families have their own plans. . ." Shiori blushed. "I wanted to see you more too! It's just. . .I would sleep in, or watch TV, and one day just led to another. I wanted to see you."

　　"That's all over now." Kotone Nakano brushed summer away. "It's the first day of school. From here on we'll see each other every day. You'll walk to school with me every day, won't you Shiori?"

　　"When I don't have softball practice. Or sleep in and have to run to school. Or class chores. Or need to ask the teacher something before class. Or it rains."

　　"Why wouldn't you walk with me when it rains?" Kotone complained.

　　"Because then I'll be running to school. I hate getting wet." Shiori grinned.

　　"That's right. Chiharu would jump in every puddle. She'd make sure it splashed you too." Kotone smiled, the holder of special inner circle knowledge of her friends. "You'd rather be setting fires."

　　"Someone had to set the fire the night outside the cabin. It's not like I'm an arsonist in training."

　　"Hmmm? Are you practicing for someone? 'It's not like I like setting fires.' -- 'It's not like I was doing this for you.' -- 'It's not like I want you to scrunch closer to the fire where it's warm.'"

　　"Kotone!" Shiori Rin blushed hotter and hotter. Kotone laughed. Kotone Nakano watched too much anime. It was corrupting her. I'm thirteen years old!

　　The school came within view as they crossed the last street and made the last turn. The road was swarming with students now. Seating wouldn't change with the new trimester, so Shiori wasn't too nervous. She would see Chiharu when she saw her. Still, her stomach kept fluttering and she kept standing up on tiptoes to see if that was Chiharu over there. Or maybe it was that girl. Or maybe she had changed her hair style and Chiharu was walking over that way. She hadn't seen Chiharu in forever. Maybe she wouldn't even recognize her anymore. Shiori bit her lip. Three times over the entire summer break. Am I a good friend? I didn't even think of visiting or calling. I was happy watching TV.

　　"Chiharu!" Kotone squealed, seeing her. She waved and almost bounced up and down. All the boys stopped to look at her. When she did it, it was cute, endearing, and perfect. I'm sure it would just be embarrassing and dumb and the boys would laugh if I was bouncing like a ball. Kotone didn't care. She had that effortless grace where she did things for her own sake and others could like watching or not.

　　"Kotone!" Chiharu Sakai shouted and waved, smiling. Shiori's stomach got more and more nervous. Would Chiharu be mad? It's not like they had called her though. Am I a bad friend?

　　"Good morning Shiori!" Chiharu shouted again, and Shiori's heart floated two meters into the air. She wasn't mad.

　　"Good morning Chiharu!" Shiori shouted back. They raced to walk together into the school grounds. Other friends were meeting too. Other names were being cried out back and forth and other girls were hugging each other. The first day of school was happiness. The first day of school was everything becoming right with the world again, being able to fall back into the same routines and know your parents wouldn't gripe because you were properly working hard and getting to see your friends every day and talk about something new and interesting that happened that day and it meant getting to play softball again with the whole team. School was happiness. The first day of school was even greater happiness, because the teachers didn't really expect you to work at all today. It would just be softball and lunch on the roof together and maybe a swimming class because it was still summer after all.

　　Shiori couldn't wait to go home and tell her parents about her day and all the jokes Kotone had made and how Chiharu's catching was so good that a pitcher always knew where to throw. The day hadn't even happened yet but she was bursting with enjoyment because she knew it would. School was a place of infinite possibilities.

* * *

　　Awesome and Cyan got off the star currents when the chime told them their stop was ahead. It didn't really matter how far across the galaxy, or even how far across the universe Wyrds lived. Magic meant everywhere was just a short ways away. Once civilization was exploding pocket dimensions for food interstellar travel just wasn't that exciting anymore. Magnolia lived in a nice area. She had been famous for raising prize winning dogs. She gave up after a few decades of not placing highly, when it was clear she couldn't win anymore. But it didn't matter. She was as rich as she'd ever need to be with the trophies she'd already claimed. Awesome wasn't intimidated. He was the best scryer in the universe. No amount of qualifications in any other field could match his. But it was nice to have someone close enough in social status that she stopped thinking about his status and started seeing him for himself. If she thought dog breeding was as good a job as scrying, let her cling to her fantasies. If it meant they could feel close.

　　Cyan rang the doorbell and the two of them waited impatiently. They hadn't said a word in hours. I've been patient until now because there was obviously nothing to be done about it. But now that she's right here why can't she hurry up and answer the door?

　　Magnolia saw who it was and rushed down the stairs to greet them. Okay, maybe she had been as fast as possible. It was a big house and they had come without warning.

　　"Cyan, Awesome, how good to see you!" Magnolia smiled. She was beautiful. Everyone knew it. Magnolia knew it. But Awesome couldn't tell her because then she'd deny it and tell him not to flatter her. So Awesome just drank her in with his eyes and let his silence say it: You're beautiful. I love you, Magnolia.

　　"It's good to see you too, Magnolia." Cyan gave a nod that was halfway down to a bow. "Will you invite us in? We have something important to talk about."

　　"Don't tell me you two got into trouble?" Magnolia frowned. "Oh, come in, come in. Of course you can come in. You know you can come in without asking and when I'm not here too. Do you want some tea with cookies? I had some downtime and was just cooking to keep my hands moving."

　　"You might say we got into trouble. And yes, please, on the tea." Cyan grinned. Awesome didn't say anything. Cyan had some secret to share with Magnolia, and there was nothing constructive he could input into the conversation until the secret was revealed. But he did take a seat in a nicely cushioned sofa that let him still watch her back as she worked.

　　Cyan sat quietly, closing his eyes, scrying again. Awesome just waited. I did not mess up. There were no Choice Givers. The possibilities ran out, it was all dead ends. Magnolia finished her cookies and poured the tea and brought the platters over one by one. Then she distributed the plates to each of them, took a cup of tea and a saucer, sipped her tea quietly, set it down, and waited for Cyan to come back to them. Awesome started eating the cookies. It had been a long trip and that always left him hungry at the end. Magic reserves depleted, time to restock. This is exactly why we don't have any choices. I can 'choose' to not eat the cookies but I'm too hungry to listen to such a choice and so I never had a choice at all. The moment I heard cookies I knew I was going to eat them all.

　　Cyan stopped scrying and looked as confused as last time. Confused meant somewhere between hope and despair. Did I really miss something?

　　"Magnolia, before either of us says anything that might taint your opinion -- Can you scry for some Choice Givers? Any Choice Givers. Look anywhere and everywhere. Try to feel them out. Stretch."

　　"Of course, if you want me to." Magnolia gave a timid look at Awesome. She knew there was no point using her talent for scrying if Awesome had already tried and failed. He could see further than anyone. Awesome nodded encouragingly, showing he wasn't offended, and ate another cookie. So Magnolia sat back and closed her eyes, and Cyan and Awesome ate and drank tea, as happy as they could be. As happy as Dead Enders could be.

　　Magnolia opened her eyes. "I keep thinking I've found them, but then I keep thinking I'm wrong and I'm just imagining things. Why?"

　　Cyan nodded. "Exactly. I felt the same way. I thought, "Here's a Choice Giver!" And then I thought, "Wait, that's not a Choice Giver. I know what a Choice Giver feels like, I remember meeting Choice Givers before, and this isn't it."

　　Magnolia nodded.

　　"But then I thought to myself: My first instinct said they were Choice Givers. Why? I needed to know. I needed to know if I wasn't just seeing what I wanted to see, so I wanted to ask you before you heard the news. Could you see the Choice Givers? And you said you could, only, they were different."

　　Magnolia nodded again.

　　"Then this means I'm right. I'm not just imagining what I want to see. There are still Choice Givers. They're just different. There are infinite possibilities, out there, somewhere. We just have to find them." Cyan sat back with satisfaction.

　　"Nonsense!" Awesome protested. "Magnolia only thinks there are Choice Givers because we haven't told her the news yet. She expects there to be Choice Givers so of course she found something, somewhere, eventually. I tell you I saw nothing."

　　"What's this about?" Magnolia asked.

　　"Well, this is the bad part of the news." Cyan gave a one-sided smile. "The magic is running out. It's a dead end."

　　Magnolia gasped. "No!" Magnolia looked at Awesome. Currently only Awesome could scry far enough ahead to see it was all dead ends. The others would still be seeing infinite possibilities. But he knew. Eventually the second best scryer would know. And then so on down the line, the knowledge cascading to the weakest scryer among all the Wyrds. It's not like he could keep the information hidden.

　　"It's a dead end." Awesome confirmed. "Wyrds are a dead end. We're all Dead Enders."

　　"Don't say that like you like it." Magnolia snapped. Then she blushed to have yelled at him. Then she put her hands to her stomach. His words had made her sick.

　　"Sorry." Awesome said. "I just think Cyan's wrong, so, if I'm right and it's a dead end, that means I've won the argument and I'm the best scryer again. I'd feel awful if I were wrong. It's professional pride."

　　Magnolia scowled. "So you're happy if your pride is retained, regardless of the fate of the universe?"

　　Awesome held up his hands. "The universe is doomed either way. No point losing my pride too."

　　"You are insufferable." Magnolia said. But she saw his point. She paused to take a sip of tea. "So? What next?"

　　Why does everyone keep asking me that? Awesome wondered. It's a dead end. There is no next!

　　"What's next is we find these Choice Givers that somehow aren't Choice Givers but are still Choice Givers. And we make sure their Choices don't run out. And we preserve our infinite possibilities." Cyan said decisively. As though these Choice Givers were a certainty. A necessity. But if they aren't our infinite possibilities, what was the point?

　　Awesome thought about it. Choice Givers that weren't Choice Givers. He had only checked all the possibilities of the Wyrd. Cyan was saying something outrageous. Non-wyrd Choice Givers? That was impossible. The Wyrd were the only sentient species. In all of their travels they had never met anything else. Space was a void full of magic and Wyrd and that was it. This was children's talk. Stuff and nonsense. But Cyan had asked Magnolia to stretch.

　　Awesome knew he would have to scry again, if only to squash this hope. The hope had already infected him, that somehow he'd been wrong. He couldn't die with dignity while believing fairy tales and children's talk about aliens and God knows what. But suppose he found alien Choice Givers. What could we do for them? We're just a bunch of Dead Enders.

　　We can do whatever we can. A voice came back to him.

　　And why should I care if they have any Choices? Why should they have any when we don't? Why should we help them? We're the ones in need. They're better off than we are. Why won't someone come save us? Why should only they have infinite possibilities?

　　Because infinite possibilities are beautiful. A voice responded quietly.

　　"What's the point of Choice Givers who aren't Choice Givers, who aren't Wyrd, and we've never met before!" Awesome yelled at Cyan. At himself. At God. He stood up and started pacing, wanting to throw something. "You're telling me to find them and, and, what, scry out their best path, the path that keeps going, on and on, like a flower that just blooms and blooms? As a service? As a, "hey, guess what, we're super-sentient aliens, and we know how to scry, and, just so you know, if you don't follow or emulate this Choice Giver, it's the end of the line. We're going to die in a couple hundred years though, so, it's not like we can prove any of this to you. Take us on faith. Have a nice life?"

　　Cyan nodded. Magnolia smiled. Those bastards knew he'd already given in. Of course, they knew him. They'd been friends forever. But they were still bastards for not even trying to convince him. This was stupid. This was ridiculous. He had chosen to die with dignity. He was going to be the better Wyrd. He wasn't going to go around killing people so he could live longer. Wasn't that noble enough?

　　Choice Givers are the noblest souls. Those who follow or emulate the Choice Givers are noble. Those that don't, are nothing but Dead Enders. You know this. The quiet voice wouldn't stop.

　　"Okay, but I'm only checking once. If I don't see these Choice Givers, they aren't there. It's ridiculous for me to be checking twice in the first place." Awesome sat down. Cyan and Magnolia nodded. They knew he'd find them. Awesome closed his eyes and scryed. Stretch. Search anywhere. Feel it out. Infinite possibilities were still out there, somewhere. Where?

* * *

　　Shiori sneezed. Someone was talking about her.

　　"Don't mind!" Chiharu called out, then threw the softball back to her. Shiori sighed and caught it. She wished people would talk about her behind her back while she wasn't pitching. It caused foul balls. And made her look stupid.

　　Shiori Rin watched the signal. Two fingers meant a fastball right down the middle. Something she couldn't possibly foul ball, which would restore her confidence. Chiharu was so sweet. Always thinking about her, trying to find a way to help.

　　Shiori took her pose, then windmilled her arm, stepped up, and threw as fast as she could. There was a satisfying thwunk into the mitt. The batter hadn't even tried to swing. Shiori smiled as she caught the ball and turned around. How's that? Who's stupid now?

　　Softball was finally back. The national tournament would start in just a couple weeks. Just a couple weeks to work off the rust and get the team ready to play. The coach was running them like mad to get them back in shape. Of course, their team wouldn't make it to nationals, or even district play. She was a good pitcher but she had no illusions she was the best in Japan or anything. Still, she promised herself the team would win before it lost. Take your Viking's due. If we're going out, we're going to take some other team down with us. That's all anyone could ask of them. They were just thirteen year old girls. Well, except for the fourteen and fifteen year old girls on her team. She was in the first year among middle schoolers, but still the fastest runner on the team. There were only so many starter slots, but if you had the ability, you could be a starter at thirteen, or even twelve. Third years, second years, and first years alike had to earn their spots via nothing but merit.

　　Shiori nodded at the call, another fastball down the middle. If the batter wouldn't even swing there was no point trying harder. She took her pose, windmilled, and threw. thwunk. Strike two. The batter still hadn't swung. It's not that the batter wasn't trying. It's just that Shiori's opponent probably hadn't played all summer and the ball was faster than she remembered it. Maybe those few months helped me grow my arms and I'm stronger now, Shiori mused. One more.

　　Chiharu signaled a change-up. One more ball down the center but at half the speed of the previous two. Shiori grinned. She took her pose and windmilled, but held on to the ball until half the momentum was already gone, releasing at the last second. The batter swung -- too early! Pwunsh. The ball was snug in Chiharu's glove.

　　"Strike three, you're out!" Chiharu intoned. Practice didn't have umpires making the calls for them. The batter sighed and gave her bat to the next hitter. She would have to run a lap around the field for failing. Of course, Coach just wanted them to run laps around the field regardless. But this way everyone was trying their best to somehow not run, even though everyone would end up running anyway. Such an evil coach.

　　Shiori was about to take a drink before the next batter was up, when she fell down. Something had touched her. No, disoriented her. No, just ruined her balance. A few people started towards her in concern and she waved them away. She tried to stand up, show them she was alright. But she couldn't. The world was spinning. No, it was like it wasn't this world at all. Heat stroke? Her parents would throw a fit. She'd be taken off the team. She wouldn't compete in the tournament. Get up! Get up!

　　Shiori stood up. She laughed and kicked the dirt, as though there had been a hump that tripped her. She waved everyone away and stuck out her tongue, holding her hand in front of her face for apology. Everyone was relieved. What on Earth? Never mind. Throw this pitch and show them you're fine.

　　Thwunk. Strike.

* * *

　　"So now we have a problem." Awesome concluded in his report to the government. "All choices for wyrds end at some point in the future, currently estimated at 200 years from now. But all choices for life don't end. There are still Choice Givers out there somewhere, trying their best, transforming the future. But as far as I could tell, they are very few. The odds of their success, well, who can tell? But those odds would be much higher if we lent them our aid. A wyrd's life is meaningless as a Dead Ender. We can hop, skip, or jump, but we're all heading to the same place, and soon. But a wyrd's life, every day would be precious if we lived with them. We could be part of saving their world. Saving life itself. If we could feed the power we use into the hands of their Choice Givers, they would have a decisive advantage over the technological level of their own civilization. It appears they never even discovered magic, nor are they a life form dependent upon it. That's their strength, but it means we can tip the scale by giving magic to whomever we please. Should we intervene? Should we help? For our sake? For their sake?"

　　Awesome looked around the walls of the capitol building and met the eyes of each of the legislators in turn. "If we do determine to help this alien civilization, we must also find out a way to fold our bodies into the tightly restricted dimensions of Earth and take on a physical form, while still somehow being spread out enough in the etheric dimensions to have access to magic we can feed on. I have no idea how this could be done, my specialty is scrying. But I hope the government could devote itself to answering this question, as quickly as possible. Once the process is finished, I would like to be the first to volunteer and test its safety. I want to be with them. I want to be where the Choices are."

　　The legislature waited for Awesome to make any more bombshell announcements. Starting a speech with "We're all doomed, it's the end of the world," then following this up with "I have made first contact with the first known sentient alien species outside our own," and then transitioning over to a budget request to "Go where we're needed and do what we can for our cousins who share everything important about what makes a Wyrd good no matter how strange or backwards they seem." Well, it was probably the strangest speech ever made to this body. But they were old, wise Wyrds. They had ruled well, as well as could be expected. Wyrd civilization had long since fixed everything in government it was possible to fix. They had figured out what worked and what didn't, and government had pretty much been on auto-pilot ever since then. It's not their fault magic was running out. We didn't do anything worse than our ancestors. It was just time. Who could imagine that in the lower dimensions there were forces like 'chemical energy,' and 'electricity.' Such weak power sources. But it was being released everywhere, all across the universe. Energy Wyrds couldn't access, had never really noticed, had never really seen it had so little to do with the real world. It was like looking through a microscope at a village of little people. The quantum forces at work down there must seem enormous to the people down there, but it was a meaningless grain of dust, the entire system, from up here. Even if Wyrds could find a way to extract the energy from those levels to feed themselves, it would probably feed one Wyrd for one micro-second or so before the whole thing was exhausted and the universe of the little people destroyed. Amazing that such small beings could still reach sentience. Perhaps matter down there is more dense. Or perhaps the universe is a fractal and size has no relation to complexity. Awesome wasn't a scientist. I'm sure there's some explanation. It doesn't matter. What matters is how the government will respond. Because I need their folding device if I'm going to go live among the living instead of just the walking dead.

　　"Awesome, you are our best scryer. I gather that no other scryer can see any of the dead ends you speak of yet?"

　　"Correct."

　　"There's no chance that you've made a mistake?"

　　"No chance, sir. I've checked and rechecked."

　　"Awesome has never lied to us about his scrying before. Nor does he show any signs of insanity. I move that we take his testimony at face value and discuss the option he's laid before us."

　　Awesome breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness Wyrds had good rulers.

　　"We have to be prepared for when this reaches the public. There could be a war."

　　"There will be a war, I fear. The logic is too simple to refute. Less Wyrds means more to go around for whoever is left. The less Wyrds the better."

　　"Then we have to be prepared to win that war. Raise the strongest army and kill anyone who tries to disturb the peace by 'eliminating the competition.' We aren't animals who think with our stomachs anymore."

　　"Could we trust that army once raised? It could turn and kill all the civilians, achieving the exact same goal."

　　The legislature came to a glum silence. Who could they trust?

　　"Awesome, could you scry out a way to avoid war between Wyrds?"

　　"Sorry, sir. It doesn't work that way. All my scrying shows is Dead Enders and Choice Givers. Since all Wyrds are equally Dead Enders now, I can't tell you anything about any of them. Good and bad decisions look the same to me. It all leads to the same dead end either way."

　　"So. . ." A legislature tapped on his desk, trying to grasp the idea of despair, of futility. "So none of our decisions matter except whether we will build this folding device or not?"

　　"Correct." Awesome said.

　　"I think Awesome has made an indisputable argument. If there is life somewhere out there that needs our help, that's at risk of becoming Dead Enders like us, it is our duty as fellow living beings and agents of choice to help them. Their values and ours are the same. Their good and ours is the same. If Wyrds are no longer viable as a life form, we have to make sure life goes on, somewhere, and lives in our place."

　　"If we did find a way to fold Wyrds into this lower dimension, could they live any longer there than they do here?"

　　"No, sir. Folded or not, Wyrds would be consuming the same amount of magic, probably more than usual, if we want to help the Choice Givers down there. If there's no more magic moving down the funnel, we'll still die just like if we stay here."

　　"So we can't even live to see if our help was of any use or made any difference."

　　"That's not true, sir." Awesome hastily corrected. "We can scry to make sure they're on the right track. That their future is branching out healthily, filling up the infinite channels of possibility. I think we would know what we had achieved by the end. If we achieve anything, it will be apparent. It will be fulfilling."

　　"Does anyone know if this folding device is technically possible within the laws of physics?"

　　"I think it is. My physics isn't fresh, but nothing in my memory screams 'impossible' out to me."

　　"Then the next step is to take this to our most trusted scientists and let them get to work. I assume everyone is in favor of creating a folding device?"

　　The Wyrds supported the bill unanimously.

* * *

　　"Look, look." Shiori grabbed Kotone's arm and pointed. "They're selling ice cream at that stand. Let's go!" Softball practice in the summer was exhausting, even when you weren't getting heat stroke and falling over like an idiot in the middle of practice. This was exactly what she needed. She could eat Mother's dinner too, so it's not like she was spoiling her appetite.

　　"If you want." Kotone let Shiori drag her along, smiling. Chiharu agreed heartily, since she'd been running in the sun this whole time too, and the three of them set off.

　　"What do you think, what do you think?" Shiori asked excitedly. Chiharu looked at all the flavors. "Tea? Blueberry?"

　　Kotone Nakano got out her wallet and ordered a scoop of vanilla.

　　"What do you two think? Should I get chocolate almond surprise? It sounds tasty. What could the surprise be?"

　　Chiharu Sakai got out her wallet and ordered a scoop of vanilla.

　　"Neh, neh." Shiori grabbed Chiharu's arm to make her look at the flavor. "What do you think the surprise is?"

　　Chiharu laughed. "If you don't hurry up we'll finish without you."

　　"Unfair! I was the one who suggested -- !" Shiori rushed to the ice cream clerk and slapped her money down. "Three scoops of chocolate almond surprise!"

　　"Three scoops?" The boy blinked, looking at her friends.

　　Shiori Rin blushed. "Two then." She almost mumbled. The clerk seemed more satisfied and bent down to work. He seemed to be giving extra large scoops though. A girl's outrageous demands had a magic of their own.

　　"Do you think we'll get to go swimming tomorrow?" Shiori asked her friends once her ice cream was in hand. "School is for swimming. Why go through all that to build a pool, and not swim in the summer?"

　　"I think they wanted to make sure everyone had their swimsuit ready." Chiharu offered. "It would have been embarrassing if some people weren't prepared. They'd be left out and look like show animals at the zoo."

　　"So, that means they'll let us swim tomorrow right?" Shiori asked.

　　Kotone picked at her ice cream, taking microscopically small spoonfuls. "I'm so busy. There's a recital coming up and we have to learn all new songs. I hope I fit into my old swimsuit."

　　"Did you grow so much over the summer?" Chiharu asked, trying to look her over head to toe again.

　　"Yes and no. I'm worried because I barely fit already. I just keep getting taller." Kotone fretted.

　　"Don't worry. You won't be taller than the boys at fifteen." Shiori squeezed her hand. Even Kotone could feel insecure. And here I was making snide comments about her skin this morning. In my head. Of course I'd never hurt her by saying them out loud. I'm a bad friend, not a monster.

　　"But. . .who can say?" Kotone picked at her ice cream. Shiori was already well into her second giant scoop. She was so distracted by swimming she hadn't even tasted what chocolate almond surprise was supposed to be. Sigh. Mother will be mad if I can't eat all my dinner.

　　"The softball national tournament starts in two weeks. Shiori is terrible too." Chiharu made a face.

　　"I'm not terrible! I just fell down!" Shiori raised her voice. Traitor!

　　"You fell down?" Kotone instantly looked worried.

　　"I'm not an invalid!" Shiori yelled, flapping her arms.

　　"Of course not. You're just terrible." Chiharu Sakai soothed.

　　"I'm not terrible either!" Shiori protested.

　　"Of course not. You're just awful." Chiharu placated. Kotone burst into laughter. Eventually all three of them were laughing as hard as they could. Somewhere in there Shiori had finished off her chocolate almond surprise. I guess the surprise is that the whole scoop is tasteless. Kotone stood up and threw the rest of her ice cream away. Gosh, what a sweet girl. She only bought ice cream so we wouldn't feel like we were leaving her out or think she wasn't enjoying it as much as we were. Will I ever be that considerate?

　　"Then, see you tomorrow?" Kotone asked Chiharu and Shiori.

　　"Yes!" Shiori smiled. It was so good to be with her friends again. "See you tomorrow!"

　　"See you tomorrow!" Chiharu chimed in. And the group broke apart, heading home to their families. Shiori Rin was an only child, but Chiharu had two younger sisters and Kotone had an older brother. They'd all be getting home from school about now too. Then they could all tell each other about their day over dinner. She wasn't jealous. She loved her mother and father and Melody and that was that. Besides, it meant less competition for the bathroom. And easier laundry days. And being able to stretch out on the entire sofa to watch TV. I'm not jealous at all.