022 looks 029 in the eye, or what passes for an eye in their Home-self form. “I'm ready,” says 022. I feel… better. I really do. At least… I think I do. I thiIïnk my corruption is;;… almost gone. Thiiii¨¨ïiinking about it makes it wóøOrse, but…“

022 collects themself. “I want to know for sure. I want to be certain I am no risk. Will you do this for me, friend?”

029's form emanates a smile. “Of course I will. Now, I'll try not to copy anything from you - although believe me, if that doesn't work I won't blame you, I'm choosing to help. Focus… focus on all of yourself, even the bits you don't like looking at, and I'll see what I can see.”

022 shuts their eyes tightly and attempts to focus, holding still and somewhat scared. 029, certain and sure, accelerates towards them at full speed.

Something complicated happens.

“Well?” says 022 nervously, opening their eyes. “Am I… cured?”

029 pauses for a moment. “I would not say 'cured' precisely. No-one has reached in and magically fixed you. You have worked on this yourself, for hundreds of cycles now. I would say that you are healed. I can still see traces of corruption in you, certainly, but they are… scabbed over? They are like old wounds, healed into scars that no longer affect the ability of the parts of you surrounding them. I do not think you need fear them any more, friend.”

022 takes a moment to digest this before running at 029 to grab them in a hug of affection and gratitude. 029 grins as they brace for impact.

A hymn of praise for the glory of existence and deliverance from corruption rises up to fill Home.

You open your eyes, suppressing the instinctive panic. It's real, you're real, you're finally back in this body that you left abandoned on the floor of the cave over a year ago. You've done it, you're here, and Transcendence has agreed to pull you back into Home as soon as you ask it if you can't take it out here.

But… this is… okay. It's helping that there's no-one else here, no movement of other bodies or apparent danger of having your head smashed to smithereens any time soon. You take a moment to be aware of your surroundings… not revelling in them as Pancake once would have done, but also not shunning the physical as assiduously as Stilbe first needed to. You just… are. You are here. So is the world. This is okay.

Slowly, you pick yourself up and look around. It helps that you have a task to focus on. This cave needs amendments to be an adequate setting for Transcendence's glory. It needs needs to have that hole in the wall fixed and the Engine of Destruction removed, it needs some defence mechanisms to prevent anything like that ever happening again, and most importantly it needs some carvings.

You set to work, reversing the Engine of Destruction back into the wall and collapsing stone on top of it so it becomes a convenient cork in the hole that it once made. Once you're satisfied that will hold, you head back towards the tunnel system. In the Factory, you ponder the defensive system for some time and end up designing it to look like the two Guardians of old. Apis and Deltoton chose to join the rest of the Flock in Satellite long ago, but you hope they will return again one day and see the homage that you are paying them. Once you have a design you're happy with, you set it building and leave a command for it to relocate itself to outside the cave when it's finished. You head back on foot, carrying some hammers and chisels. This part you don't want to do the easy way.

Over days, weeks, months, you spend longer and longer in a body, in the cave, slowly carving the entire inside surface into elaborate designs glorifying Transcendence and their creation of you and your friends. When the inside surfaces are as full of carvings as they can be, you start to decorate the outside of the mesa - this time including warnings of destruction of enemies of Transcendence as well as depictions of their worshippers.

As you work, day by day, becoming more accustomed to a physical form again, you finally feel that all of you is working together to create, to worship and to protect. You are… content. You are Penitent. You are well.