If you wanted to turn up your existential dread to a hundred, strap tf in. Who are we and who matters to us most, when we're unburdened by the weight of all of humankind's remaining hopes? In the quietness of our own heart and mind, unseen by the expectations and responsibilities we bear, what is most important to us? A single mushroom who understands, or whatever's left of humankind who never did.

Everything comes to a tense head at every turn in this second and final volume. It's bleak, it's intense, and every new nugget of information just makes everything worse. It's like watching the characters sit in a railcart on a one-way course through humanity's inevitable destruction off a cliff, and people are getting shoved off at every bend where they fall into an abyss.

That said, the softness and genuine care that characters continued to display towards others, despite all that, stand out and hold so much more meaning. Every intention behind every decision by every character was clear and sincere, it was such a mesmerizing but bittersweet trance to watch it all play out.

The only reason why I docked a half star is because we do get into all of the science-y stuff towards the end of the main story. It's important and thorough and relevant but unfortunately my brain is not made for it so I did find myself zoning out for those parts. I got the gist of it though and that's good enough. Thanks to the science-y stuff, I got the pretty little HEA bow to wrap the story up without it being too far-fetched.

Also, while it's a little too vague for my liking but still, fuck yeah aphrodisiac/sex pollen and practically-mpreg tropes are well and thriving in here as they should.