Now was the time of great sedulousness. AL-AN had been freed from his temporary storage in Robin Ayou's mind, and now he was free to return to the familiar groove of his diligent work in his very own vessel. Autonomy was a privilege he had not underestimated for the past millennium.

But how much work he did have...

Alone, AL-AN's projects were doomed to be as solitary as he was. His primary objective was to flee the hydro-planet of 4546B in search of his people's core worlds for survivors, but his ambitions had met complications that kept him grounded. He'd be so for at least a little while more until he figured out a solution for an alternative landing pad that was not frozen until it was completely inoperable, like the initial one he discovered.

Until then, he decided to secure his presence on 4546B to the best of his ability. Alterra remained a threat from their lurking in orbit, and that precisely was why he was now in the depths of the crystalline cave systems deep below the surface. Relatively safe within a nimble aeroamphibious ship of Architect make, he was able to navigate the dark caverns of the chaotic yet ethereal violet morganite formations.

A few electrical discharges of the perimeter defence system were needed to... discourage the local leviathan-class wildlife, but all in all, AL-AN's trip was ultimately successful.

There was a reason why he'd come here, back to a miniature facility that Robin had visited for the blueprints of his "body's" organs. It was shielded in copious amounts of the crystalline formations, and if AL-AN had experienced as much trouble as he did pinpointing the digital scent of his own people's network here, then Alterra would never stand a chance detecting this place.

It was a perfect place to lie low and operate unhindered.

He never expected to see another vessel of Architect make parked right outside the forcefield to the facility, left to idle with no operator within its hull.

The morganite must've shielded this from his senses. How was there another ship here? Had Robin found one? She would've informed him, wouldn't she? There was no way she would not have. She'd have imploded trying to keep that a secret from him, and she had no reason to.

AL-AN proceeded with utmost caution. He passed through the forcefield to the facility and the points of all four of his legs settled expertly on the dry flooring. The swirl of his anxious feelings reflected in a kaleidoscope of swimming colours from his bioluminescence on the metal alloy walls.

Such colours were put to utter shame when he took notice of new, unfamiliar renovations spanning deeper into the miniature facility and, caught standing in the heart of the new expansion, was the similarly stunned-still vessel of... of another. Another!

Another Architect.

He was an endling no more.