“Really, that’s all you did? That giant mess that we are currently dealing with?” Cal said, not sure if it was anger or laughter bubbling up inside of him at this revelation.


    “It’s not as bad as it sounds, at least initially. The Agency has been at war with the Gryalth and is surprisingly effective. I started to lose control when they decided to implement the ogre program, but I worked to make sure I could at the very least send a message to you when the time came. I was rather confident you would eventually be able to crack the collars they were using,” new Andrew said.


    “You wouldn’t say that if you had any idea what they’ve put us through, what they’ve put a bunch of innocent kids through,” Cal replied, forcing down whatever the rising emotion as he knew it wouldn’t help at all at this point. The shade of a former Andrew existed in a reality he had never experienced. He only knew the one its creator had apparently caused.


    “Cal, as I said, this simulation cannot be programmed for all possible courses this conversation takes. Extreme disappointment in me, though, was something I expected. Based on what information I have from the collar’s databanks as well as what I was programmed with, the Gryalth incursion was curbed to a huge degree. So yes, I will not defend what the Agency turned into, and that was very much a failure by me, without it, things would be extremely different,” new Andrew replied.


    Cal sighed loudly. “What exactly was your iteration of the loop like then?” he asked, feeling a need to understand just what could have ever driven Andrew to think this was a good idea or even a remotely possible idea. They had only gotten as far as they had because of their loops. He had done this war with one shot.


    “How bad is the day the Gryalth start their full invasion?” new Andrew asked.


    “Pretty bad. They attack several cities worldwide, starting with the building where you and I meet as adults. I assume that’s pretty similar,” Cal answered.


    “Somewhat, but not entirely. They don’t just attack some cities. Their forces spread across the globe in a matter of minutes. The Agency has done a remarkable job of cutting down the spread of their abominations as well as closing some of the gateways they manage to get in place. Now, I’m sure this has had major butterfly effects across this new iteration of loops, but I’m also sure there are more mana spirits available than there were in the initial one. How many have you managed to get ahold of us?” new Andrew asked.


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    “Several, how many were we able to in your iteration?” Cal asked.


    “You were able to get the one. Looking at the memory banks of this collar, there are huge differences just in the people you appear to have in the loop already. For one thing, the only animal we had in my loops was Bug—these capybaras, as well as Ethel and her animals, this a huge difference. This explains why you’ve managed to reduce the numbers needed to drastically compared to my own. Look I am sorry about the existence of the Agency, but it does very much appear they did more good than harm in terms of winning this war,” new Andrew replied.


    “Great, look, I don’t know what you really want to tell me here, but can we get to the point? I really don’t want to listen to how the evil thing that tortured me for a loop actually had some good uses, too,” Cal said, now sure the feeling was anger.


    “Primarily, this contact was made to make sure you don’t just destroy the collar once you remove it. Please provide it to your current Andrew so that he can gather all the data I’ve made sure to place within it. It should both help with your Agency issues as well as your future war with the Gryalth. You are being released from this hold now,” new Andrew said as the scene in front of Cal faded, and he found himself back where he had started. From the looks of the people around him, no time had passed at all. He had no idea what to make of the experienced but decided he would certainly bring it up with Andrew.


    “I think, maybe, that I feel okay now. Whatever you did seemed to work. I can kind of feel the energy inside of me again, not as strong as before though. Do you think it will come back?” Sean asked.


    “Possibly, we will need to do more research once we are back to the voidhouse. Speaking of which, Cal, you good to get out of here. We’ve already potentially caused enough problems for another twenty loops,” Andy said, looking toward his friend.


    “Oh, ah, yeah, Twonger, anything pressing we still need to do?” Cal said, fumbling over his words slightly, still confused about everything that had just happened.


    “Nah, I mean, yeah, a ton of new shit, but honestly, I want the hell out of here to think. Why the hell do you look like you’ve seen a ghost anyway?” Twonger asked, narrowing his eye at Cal.


    “Yeah, things got real weird. I’ll explain later. Let’s call it a night and leave in the morning unless you think it’s better to just get out of here now,” Cal said.


    “Nah, we can get some sleep, right now, everyone has decided we’re on their side, and I haven’t screwed that up entirely yet, so I figure sleep should be pretty safe,” Twonger said.


    While Cal was happy at the idea of some sleep, he wasn’t sure he’d actually be able to sleep. He had a weird feeling something had changed in a way he didn’t fully understand yet.