I stared at me, and me stared right back. Using a very un-me caution that I probably should use more often, I stepped toward the anchor, waving a hand in front of its face. No reaction. Good. For now it only looked like me. 

“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you.” Death said behind me. “It might not have a mind yet, but it would love to steal one of yours. Now, if you’ll come with me we can fix this then secure the anchor for the locals.”

Right, solutions. “What was it you had in mind? This thing has Connected itself to me, it won’t be easy to fix.” I turned, following Marsh to the door. “It’s like a parasite working its way into the heart of my spirtweb.”

“Don’t worry,” Death grinned, throwing open the door to reveal a rack of metal spikes. “I’m an expert on spiritwebs.”