31 - A world that should be

Mine is the winding Path of Lies,

mine is the vision of worlds that could be,

mine is the line between real and unreal.

I walk under the sun, and know it for a shadow.

I reach into the Else, and find a deeper truth.

The Art of the Veil, introduction to the Path of Lies

“So, have you seen the ThauCon agents?” I ask, trying to sound innocently curious. “I heard they guard the Relic Vault, but I haven’t been there yet.”

“I saw them just this morning, while they went downstairs,” Evenki answers. Xe likes telling me about the university, I think xe’s hoping to become friends. I feel a small stab of pain, knowing I’ll have to disappear once the job is done.

“They don’t look like much,” xe adds. “They’re young-ish, bored, and they’re not even wearing the cool silver armors you see in movies. Just a kind of bulky uniform - silver lined, I guess.”

“I’ve seen them, too,” a young woman whose name I can’t remember adds. “They were escorting professor Adavert, who of course was lecturing them along the way. A week with her, and they’ll beg for a terror attack. Anyway, they have at least a council mage! I’d never seen one!”

She sounds surprisingly excited about it - for a mad moment, I think about asking how they feel about mages, but I’m not that stupid.

“I get that we have to deal with ThauCon,” a young man says. I’m always worried when he speaks - he’s a real Landfaller, and could easily spot any inconsistency in Tharvais’ background. “We had ThauCon everywhere, in the City, you get used to it. But a Council mage? I thought we didn’t want mages near the Black Door!”

The girl sitting next to him rolls her eyes. “Council mages are harmless,” she answers, “I have a cousin in the Glass Tower. They only do super-safe magic, and need triplicate form to practice any of it anyway. I think ThauCon is only here for politics, to make a show of being more watchful after the mess in Valanes. What would a terrorist mage even do with the Black Door? It’s, like, famously useless. The Black Liar and the Unmaker couldn’t open it. They tried.”

I bite my tongue before I point out that rogue mages wouldn't necessarily be after the Door, since there are plenty of relics to steal.

But what is the relic I’m after? The University description for it is ‘glyph-inscribed tetrahedron, use unknown’, and all it does, supposedly, is float and spin, periodically switching direction. I doubt our mysterious buyer is going to pay a million credits for a novelty paperweight, though.

“The Black Door is cool, though,” Evenki says, undeterred in xir good mood, “have you ever seen it? It’s… weird, some people hear it whisper. And it’s so black, like a hole in the world. They do guided tours once a month - but maybe they’ll be suspended now.”

The same girl who spoke about the Black Liar leans over the table, conspiratorially. “I want to do my thesis on it,” she says.“I know there are a million papers a year about the Door, despite the fact it doesn’t do anything. But did you see the picture about the new excavation in southern Taer? They found something that looks similar. I want to suggest a comparative study.”

“You mean the Inverted Pyramid?” Evenki says, skeptical. “I’ve seen the pictures. You have to squint a lot to make it look like the Black Door.”

“The structure is different,” the girl answers, obviously passionate about it, “but there’s a similarity in design, and the same perfectly black surfaces within frames. I can’t wait for a full list of the pyramid’s glyphs, to compare with the Door.”

Evenki laughs. “Professor Adavert will love it, it looks like a ton of mind-numbing work.”

I scramble for a way to take the topic back to ThauCon - I’m still not entirely sure they’re guarding the Vault, even if the fact there are few of them, and inexperienced ones, is reassuring. But I can’t find any non-suspicious way to do it, and soon my classmates have switched to weekend plans.

“We should go out together,” Evenki says, obviously hopeful, “we can’t study all the time , right? You could join us, Tharvais.”

There’s a hint of shyness in xir tone - I get the feeling they’re a group of students who are trying to become a group of friends. I didn’t spend much time with them, I don’t even know if I like them, but part of me is desperate to join.

Would it be good for my covert identity? Probably so. But my time as Tharvais is almost over. I might realistically steal the relic within the week, and if I don’t, I’ll be planning the theft during the weekend.

“Sorry, I’m still catching up with the courses,” I say, “and it’s so cold, here! I’ll stay warm and study. I’ll join you next time, though.”

***

On Gunsday, I run out of excuses. I have professor Kairim’s authorization to take a relic from the Vault. I practiced my disguise so much, I barely need a thought to become Tharvais. It’s time to enter the Vault.

I don’t mean to steal the Twisting Tetrahedron, yet. It’s just a reconnaissance trip - I’ll take the Spinning Top and check where the Tetrahedron is, plus peek into the Else to make sure it has the Else-marks described by the client.

“I’ll be with you for as long as I can,” Iketek whispers in my mind, “but the thaumocracy wards interfere with magic. I don’t think I’ll be able to follow you into the Vault”. Every time she mind-speaks, I feel a stab of anxiety. Is that because she’s creepy as fuck, or are her emotions bleeding through the channel?

I attend the morning classes - Tharvais wouldn’t skip class to go to the Vault, after all. Also, I’m finally starting to make sense of Thaumocracy History, and Introductory Conservation Technologies is surprisingly interesting.

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I take notes, chat with Evenki and even ask a few questions. But as the morning period ends, a weight settles on my stomach. It’s time to go. I excuse myself from the other students - they’re going to the mass hall, and they wanted me to join - and start making my way to the Vault.

I feel everyone’s eyes on me as I walk through the busy hallways and down the stairs to the lower levels. My Tharvais disguise is paper-thin now - I might look like a student, but I’m a thief, the worst kind of interloper in this place of learning.

Who thought doing crimes could feel wrong?

I take a deep breath. Technically, I’m not doing anything illegal today. I’ll just take the relic I have an authorization for, see what security is in place, and check that the tetrahedron has the Else-marks the client described.

The more I think about this job, the less sense it makes.

Why is our client going in such a roundabout way to steal a poorly-guarded relic? Two weeks here, and it’s obvious even to me that the university doesn’t take security seriously, except at most for the Black Door.

Before the events in Valanes, it was even laxer. Couldn’t the mysterious client just pay regular thieves to get the Tetrahedron? A Mundane thief could probably get it done by bribing a couple of security guards. Why hire us - for a good chunk of a million credits - instead?

We talked about this, of course. Technically, we have an answer: only a mage can check the Else-marks on the tetrahedron. But why not just steal it anyway, and check the marks later?

And what about the grad student mage? It’s hard to believe his presence is a coincidence. Could he be another relic thief? But he could snatch any relic he wanted at any time, as a researcher he doesn’t even need a special authorization. Could he be guarding the Vault, or specifically the Tetrahedron, for some reason? Daravoi’s smuggler friend says the Faceless and the Syndicates are battling for the city - could he work for either side? But the Faceless already know me, and the Syndicates are supposedly unable to establish themselves in the city. I checked, and the grad student has been in Rakavdon for two years, while the Syndicate push seems recent.

There are too many unknowns.

This whole operation seems much more dangerous to no-nonsense, cautious Tharvais than to that idiot, Korentis.

I’m less and less sure the Art of the Veil is worth this kind of trouble. Why should I want to be a powerful mage anyway? My life would be better if I really were a student, on my way to borrow a minor relic for a class project.

But second-guessing myself - or Korentis - is beside the point now.

I realize I’m half-hoping to find a reason to give up. If the job were a set up, or if a powerful mage was watching the Vault, we could tell the Prop Master that we tried, but we’re unable to complete the job.

Giving up. Isn’t that what I’m best at?

But not this time. I can’t just let my friends - and myself - down like that. So I take a deep breath, and walk down another flight of stairs, to the laboratory level.

This floor was built by the Thaumocracy, I could tell even if I didn’t know already. Thanks to my crash course in history, I can date it to the High Thaumocracy period, after the Last Empress took the throne and brought the rebellious dukes under her heel. You can tell because the walls and ceilings are smoother, perfectly shaped by advanced spells, and because there are no statues - the Empress allowed no cult of personality, except of herself, and all statues to her have been destroyed by the Men in Silver.

The ancient wards were damaged and weakened over the centuries, as the building changed hands and was repurposed, so it doesn’t dampen magic as much as the fortress where Iketek taught us to mask our signatures. But still, there’s an echo of power in the stones - even without touching the Else, the walls feel more solid, more real than anything else.

“The stone tries to keep me out,” Iketek whispers in my mind. “I can follow you, but not much farther. Be careful.”

This level looks silent and abandoned compared to those above, full of chatter and laughter. This is where teaching and research labs are, but the ancient, sprawling fortress was so vast, most of the rooms are empty and locked. Other students said they don’t like coming down here because it feels creepy and empty.

I get them--it’s not just the old rooms and being underground, there’s something heavy, oppressive in the air. In the same way I can always tell where the moon is, I can feel… something else, here. Something wrong, something that makes the hairs stand on my body. I can pinpoint its position through the floor and walls - it’s almost directly below me, now.

The Black Door. I was told it’s disturbing for mages. I fight the urge to peek into the Else - I know it would be a horrible idea, but it’s weirdly compelling, like the sudden impulse to jump from a high place, or to peek at something rotten.

Even without Reaching into the Else, I hear the Door’s whispers.

Well, better to go in the Vault and out before I do something stupid. I check the map on my phone - I don’t even have to be sneaky about it, students get lost all the time in the maze-like building. I follow the directions to a final flight of stairs, leading to another low, oppressive hallway, this time of rough stone, with faded carvings and statues standing in small niches. This is from Low Thaumocracy - the original building made by Duke Kalistes, back then just a nominal vassal to the emperor in the Black City.

Lost Stars, history is cool. After I drop this identity - I recoil in distaste at the thought - I could keep studying it. I… can do that, right? No one is going to stop me?

Except for myself, as usual.

No, enough of this. It’s time to focus. After the stairs, I reach the Vault’s corridor. There are four people standing in front of a heavy steel door. Three of them wear black-and-silver uniforms, and one a red-and-gold robe.

Forgotten Enemy. So, ThauCons are guarding the Vault, after all. Evenki thought they were here only to guard the excavation, but of course, xe’s only a student, and by xir own admission xe never comes to this floor. How could xe know the details of ThauCon deployment?

Why are the Men in Silver keeping watch here? Do they know someone is planning to steal a relic? I consider turning back and running - but if they are waiting for me, that would be pointless. If they aren’t, it would draw attention in the worst possible way. So, I force myself to keep walking, and to look at them like a curious, mildly worried student would do.

As I approach, stomach clenched and sweat running down my back, they barely glance at me. I don’t dare look at them too much, but they match what the other students said – they’re about my age, they wear black-and-silver uniforms but no helmets and no armor, and mostly look bored.

I’d like to give a closer look to the Council mage, but he stands a couple steps apart, and I don’t dare be obvious, even if most people would be curious. I get only a glimpse of a scrawny teen with a hostile expression.

My attention is caught by the girl standing next to the door, however, because she has a freaking sword at her side, and as I stop by the chip scanner, she glares at me with cold, attentive eyes.

“I, uh,” I say, frozen in place, “should go in. I have, uh, authorization.”

I fumble through my phone’s document for Professor Kairim’s authorization, and a strange calm descends on me - I’m scared, but it’s not really a problem, right? I can turn that into acting like a student who is scared. It’s almost fun.

“We don’t need to check your authorization, that’s university business,” she says, dripping contempt. Her tone is flat and, weirdly, familiar. “We’re just here to provide security. Just scan your permit.”

It takes me a moment to remember her voice. I heard her in the metro station. She was wearing the dark-visored helmet back then, but she was close enough that I could hear her clearly. Not only she’s a ThauCon agent, she’s a ThauCon agent who is specifically chasing me.

How could I be so stupid to accept this job? I’m a wanted criminal in this city. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

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