37 - A long-sought treasure

"For all our knowledge and power, we are children playing with magic far beyond our understanding.

We don’t know who, or even what, the Precursor were. We don’t understand the purpose of their ruins.

We can barely dip our toes in the Else. We understand nothing of the beings which live in its depths, we only glimpse the complexities of its layers.

Yes, I believe Keidesek lied, and he led us to the Moon to advance his own plans. My memories are confused and inconsistent, but that’s one conclusion I reached from external evidence.

And yet, I can’t claim innocence. I opened the way, and together we climbed the Endless Stair all the way to the Moon, where we discovered an impossibility: a vast, empty white city.

We should have been patient and cautious.

What could I have expected from opening the door to Selenopolis, except disaster?"

* Written Confession of Archmage Ikejon, the Unmaker

“So, what’s the plan?” Daravoi asks, looking critically at the gleaming steel-and-glass tower in front of us.

“There’s only one part I care about,” I say. “We’re taking the elevator, right? That’s a lot of floors,” The laboratory is on the seventieth floor, almost at the top, and that’s very high.

“Lean against that wall and look gloomy, Daravoi,” Iketek says instead of answering, fiddling with her camera.

Dara puts his back against the wall. “Do we really need to do this bullshit?” He asks, crossing his arms. He really looks tough when he does that. I should sketch him, in case I need a street-smart, tough persona. As if we didn’t know he’s a softie - I mean, his favorite activity seems to be buying cute knick-knacks for our flat.

“Why don’t you ever put me in your pics?” I ask Iketek. It’s a bit offensive, really.

“Because this is a photographic album about the contrast between the shiny old architecture and the hard lives of young people living below,” she answers, utterly serious, “and a cheerful, useless brat like you would entirely spoil the mood.”

“You’re just pretending to take pictures, come on,” Daravoi says.

“I’m not,” Iketek answers, an edge to her voice. “I’m very much taking pictures. I enjoy photography, and I’m quite good at it. And if I’m acting, I should act properly.”

She’s terrible at acting. But I understand what she doesn’t, and neither does Daravoi - her photographer persona isn’t an act at all, it’s a Lie. It’s a cover for her criminal prep work, but she enjoys it. She could have been a real photographer in a different life – she hangs some of her pictures in her room, and they’re really cool. But I don't point that out. She doesn't like it.

That said, I wish she didn’t take so fucking long to take her pretty pictures. We’ve been moving around the tower for the whole morning, and despite the heavy jackets, double mittens and caps, I’m freezing.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“So, what kind of album would you make with me?” I ask, because I’m getting bored of watching her take pictures of Dara looking tough.

She actually pauses to look critically at me, deep in thought - I hate when people take my random bullshit seriously.

“You’re an interesting right mix of naive and unhinged,” she says. “I wish I’d taken some pictures of you at the Moonbreaker, you were quite striking. I think I could make an impressive sequence of surreal pictures with you.”

It’s… strangely flattering. Especially since Iketek is so distant, it’s hard to know what she thinks of you. I assumed she just found me annoying, but apparently, I’m striking, too.

“While I’m useful because I look poor,” Daravoi snorts. “I love being Kelestran.”

Iketek moves to another angle, and her camera clicks again. “It’s a matter of contrast with the old city - basically any young person would do, except Korentis - xe looks exactly like the spoiled brat xe is,” she says. “Anyway, I’m almost done. We have pictures of the whole exterior. I’ll check them against the planimetry I got.”

Finally, we get to retreat into a cafè - it’s clean and fashionable and outrageously expensive, full of businessmen in Landfall-style silk tunics, as if we didn’t live in the frozen ass of nowhere. Several people look at Daravoi with suspicion, but I don’t care, because it’s warm.

We sit in a corner, and Iketek starts fiddling with her tablet. We sip our ginger teas as a progress bar starts filling on its screen.

“The exterior of the tower mostly matches its planimetry,” Iketek says, opening a 3D model of the tower. “Three ways out - the entrance at ground level, the corridor connecting with the mall at floor three, and the… special way out we can use at floors sixty to sixty-five.”

Apparently, she has an app to reconstruct a building’s plan from exterior pictures - she has so many apps so obviously designed for criminals, I can’t believe they’re legal.

“So, now can you tell us the plan?” Daravoi asks. Yeah, that’s probably important, because so far I’ve no idea what she’s thinking. She listed several possibilities at some point, but my mind had trailed off.

Iketek tightens her lips. “To devise any real plan, we should gather much more information.” She doesn’t sound happy – if she could have her way, we wouldn’t steal a potted plant without two years of studying and seventy contingency plans. She’s so boring, she takes the fun out of crime.

“And we still don’t have time for that,” Daravoi says, exasperation creeping in his voice.

I lean with my elbows on the table. “I hate to be in the let’s half-ass this party,” I jump in, “but ThauCon is looking for us. We must act quickly, and then lie low or leave the city. Also, professor Kairim could ask for his relic back at any time.”

“I know all that,” Iketek snaps, gripping her cup, “but I don’t like it anyway. A skyscraper is a terrible place for a job - lots of cameras, no quick way out, and high risk of collateral damage. We know almost nothing about the lab’s internal security. And we can’t be sure ThauCon isn’t waiting for us.”

“We have your emergency exit as backup,” I say.

“And it sucks,” Daravoi adds.

“Nah, it’s cool!” I retort.

Daravoi rolls his eyes. “Whatever, we still have no choice.”

Iketek looks like she’s going to argue further, but then she changes her mind and gives an annoyed sigh.

“So be it, then,” she says, unhappy. “We go in quickly, leave quickly, and we use as much magic as we need. Let’s find someone for Korentis to impersonate.”

I give her a wide grin. “I love this plan.”

As we get up to leave, I hear a rustle close to my ears - like a bird unfolding its wings. I look around, searching for its source, but I find nothing.