"Mei, do you trust me?" Claude asked as he stood beside Mei in front of a large, black door, a small sign on the wall beside it was engraved with the word "Archive" neatly signed onto it.

Mei glanced at Claude. Her sleepy expression remained neutral. "Did Michael tell you he doesn't trust you?... He's protective of me and Claire... He trusts me because I lived with the Regents for a while... In time he'll come to trust you too... given your history I don't blame him for being cautious..."

She glanced at a card scanner attached to the door, she reached into her right pocket for a few seconds before she pulled out a small, black card.

Claude looked at Mei and sighed. He raised his voice a little. "You dodged the question. Don't do that. What did you say about my history? What do you know about me Mei? Answer me! Do you trust me or not?!"

Claude straightened his back and stood in front of her, he glared at her, the same piercing glare he used to bend Hecate to his will. His Abyssal Authority.

Mei yawned and shrugged. "Don't raise your voice at me Claude... I don't know anything... I just assumed I guess..." She faced down towards the floor but her eyes were fixed on Claude, glaring at him in equal measure. "Your Abyssal Authority only works on Demons by the way..." She sleepily nodded at him.

Claude's shoulders sagged and he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I kinda did that by accident. I didn't realise what I was doing."

Mei shrugged nonchalantly. "If you want people to trust you... don't try to use your authority to influence them..." She grabbed Claude's arm and he suddenly blacked out.

He woke up on the ground several minutes later. Mei was standing over him sleepily. She turned back to face the door in complete silence. A subtle warning of what she was capable of.

Claude slowly stood up beside her.

Mei used her card she pulled from her pocket on the card scanner.

A small beep and a pop-up on a screen above it appeared. It displayed "Administrative Access Granted." The door slid open with a click and Mei quietly walked inside with Claude following behind her.

The archive room was filled with servers all along the walls and various terminals connecting to each. All labelled from A to Z.

In the back there were old boxes stacked full of dusty files and binders. A security camera sat high up on the wall and various cables and wires snaked along the floor in neat tubes. The room was dimly lit with various flat circular lights on the ceiling.

Claude turned to Mei. "What did it mean Administrative access? What's that card for?" Mei yawned. "It's an admin card... I borrowed it..." She walked over to one of the terminals and tapped the touchscreen.

"I'm looking for something specific... if you want to find things about your power check the "Powers" section of the archive... and if you want to know about the Abyssal Authority... don't check "Curses"... it's not a curse..." She shrugged. "Check "Authorities"... you'll find it there..."

She turned to the terminal she was stood at and began scrolling across the touchscreen.

Claude followed the signs on the servers along to the letter "P", he touched the terminal and various digital files popped up.

"Powers, this must be the one. Let's see."

He scrolled through the files. Each one a case study documenting a specific power. Some he was familiar with, such as Mei's dream power, and some he wasn't, such as one titled "Protector's Vow".

Claude turned around. "Hey Mei, who's power is this?" He pointed to the terminal. Mei sleepily wandered to Claude. She reached the terminal and silently read the file on display.

There's no name... usually there's a name for the person who holds the power..."

She swiped her index finger on the screen, the file moved up, revealing lines of black bars covering all the text. "It's all been censored... This power is forbidden... I've heard of these before... It's somebody we're not supposed to know about..."

Mei yawned and nodded. "You look through the file on your own power..." She slid her finger across the touchscreen, opening the file on Atom Manipulation. "I'll learn more about the Protector's Vow..." She wandered to the other end of the room, looking down at a monitor there, her eyes laser focused intently on the screen.

Claude scrolled through the file, it explained how to use his power beyond just for combat.

It explained how to manipulate states of matter and what level of concentration was required to achieve that. As well as other applications for the power in manipulating combat to the user's advantage. Claude read along until it reached a part detailing previous vessels of the power. All information from there was classified and redacted.

Claude turned to Mei. "Hey Mei, it's mostly redacted. What am I supposed to do?"

Mei tilted her head towards him and shrugged. "That makes sense... I doubt anyone really knows the truth... a lot of the files are censored..." She yawned. "Oh... by the way... I've got some information on the Protector's Vow." Mei turned and faced Claude.

"It belonged to an ancient hero... he lived centuries ago... but there are also reports as late as forty years ago... just before The Monarch reappeared..." Mei yawned. "He trained The Golden Regent... there's no name on the file but his power was never inherited by anyone else... which means he's not dead... he's probably somewhere in Arhke right now..."

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Mei approached another terminal and swiped the screen a few times and then waved Claude over and stepped back as he approached. "I found the Authorities files..."

Claude swiped the screen and several files drifted by. "Authority over Heroes." "Authority over Darkness." "Authority over Thoughts".

Several files with interesting titles, but one stood out to Claude more than the rest. "Authority over Memories."

He turned to Mei. "What's this one? What even is an Authority?"

Mei shrugged. "I don't know much about it... I think it's sort of like... a special force... different to superpowers and demon curses... They allow people to control different aspects of the world... to bend them to their will..."

Claude nodded. "I see, so could whoever has the Authority over Memories help me to get my memories back?"

Mei looked at him and shrugged.

She walked forward and tapped a file. A small beep echoed through the room.

"The files are all locked... I'll get the code for the Abyssal Authority for you now... I don't have the codes for the others unfortunately... sorry..."

Claude nodded. "Mei. How did you get the code? And how do you know all of this?"

Mei tilted her head and shrugged. "It doesn't matter..." She glanced at the camera. "Ghost won't bother us either... she's distracted at the moment... so we can take as long as we need..."

She smiled a little and calmly sat down on the metal floor nearby. "The files weren't all censored at first... I think Ghost classified a bunch of them when she realised I could get in here...she doesn't know I have a code for confidential files though..."

Mei rummaged around in her pocket and pulled out a small wad of paper. She unfurled it and passed it up to Claude.

The code was written in neat but slightly lazy handwriting.

Claude carefully typed the code into the terminal. A file titled. "Authority over The Abyss" suddenly opened.

Inside was a large study done by various important people in Arhke which outlined the past uses of the Authority over The Abyss and why Abyssal creatures obeyed The Monarch.

Claude read through the document carefully, taking in as much information as he could.

It explained how all Abyssal monsters have a certain level of Authority. The Monarch's was overwhelming which allowed him to control all other monsters below him.

Near the bottom of the document was a quote from Doctor Wright, the famous researcher and leader of the Human Enhancement Institute.

"The Authority over The Abyss seems to overwrite the cognitive functions of Abyssal creatures, giving them the overwhelming urge to serve the one who's Authority is higher than their own and feeling a sense of satisfaction from carrying out their orders. Minor Authorities are present in all beings, Abyssal monsters are no exception. They all have some degree of Authority. Since the dawn of time kings, political figures, leaders, all of these people had higher Authorities than those beneath them, creating a desire to serve, albeit small."

"Minor Authorities are subjective however, for example a parent has authority over their children, an employer has authority over his employees. Sometimes a lack of respect or other similar circumstances have come into play, which can erode Minor Authorities, preventing them from working on everyone."

"Major Authorities, like the Authority over The Abyss, are far more objective. There have however been rare cases where even Major Authorities have been ignored by certain individuals. This topic requires more research. I wonder, if one with more Authority were to clash with The Monarch, may that weaken his grip on The Abyss as a whole? Though The Monarch has since perished and at the time of this study nobody else has appeared with the Authority over The Abyss it'd be wise to study this further should The Monarch ever return. That way we are adequately equipped to deal with him. -Doctor Wright."

Claude turned to Mei, who was still sat down on the cold metal floor.

She yawned and glanced up at him. "Did you find your answer...?" Claude shook his head. "Not really. I discovered that The Authority over The Abyss is a Major Authority. Which means it holds more weight than say the Authority of Claire. She's our captain and we follow her authority because she's proven to be a capable leader with our best interests at heart.

My Authority is different though. It's more objective. I can overwrite the cognition of Abyssal creatures, changing the way they think, making them more subservient whether they like it or not."

Mei nodded gently. "Your Authority... which you tried to use on me..."

Claude sighed. "I've already apologised for that, I didn't know I was doing it."

Mei shrugged, her expression neutral. "It doesn't matter... what matters is that we now understand how Authorities work a little better now..." Mei stood up quietly and walked towards the door, her back turned to Claude the entire time.

"Let's go Claude... Ghost will notice the files have been accessed... we shouldn't be here when she finds out..." She walked out of the archive and into the corridor.

Claude followed her and the two walked together in complete silence.

The pair turned the corner and reached the main reception. Mei glanced at the commission board and sighed. "There are a lot of villains now... growing up Arhke was so safe... now there's a new villain every month..."

Mei yawned and turned to Claude. She approached him and leaned in close to his ear, she spoke in a quieter voice, nodding towards the camera in the corner of the room.

"I'm going to look into the ancient hero we learned about... I'll let you know if I find anything..."

She stepped back, turned around and waved to Claude. "Come on... let's go to the living area..."

She began walking again, Claude not far behind her. By now the sun had set and the sky was dark.

Claude and Mei arrived in the living area of Hero HQ. They reached a series of doors, all the same but with different nameplates on each.

They approached a door which said "Claude." on the nameplate. Mei stepped in front of it. "Claude... do you still have the key card I gave you?"

Claude nodded. "I think so, that's if I didn't lose it while outside Arhke. I'll check now." Claude reached both hands into his pockets and rummaged around. After a few seconds he pulled out a card from his pocket. "Here it is. I knew I had it somewhere."

Mei stepped aside quietly to allow Claude to open the door. He placed the card against the receiver next to the door.

The machine beeped and the door opened slowly. Mei nodded and the pair walked inside.

Inside was a familiar room. The room Claude had woken up in after the incident with Viper. It had various segments within it, all of which were well furnished and provided all he could need. Mei walked over to a chair in the corner of the room. A small seating area with a TV and a small table. Mei yawned and stretched her arms. Claude sat down on a chair beside her.

She turned to him. "Claude... things will get harder for you now..."

Claude looked at Mei, a confused expression on his face. "What do you mean?"

Mei shrugged. "You're a popular discussion at the moment... Arhke is dying... humanity never stood a chance against The Abyss.... and then suddenly out of nowhere you show up... somebody who's able to turn an Abyssal Lieutenant to his side... a mysterious beacon of hope with an unknown past... Your life is going to get harder... everyone wants to see you succeed... don't lose your way Claude..." Mei suddenly stood up.

"I've talked too much today... I'm tired..." She turned to face the door. "Night Claude..."

Before Claude could respond she was gone.

Claude stood up and walked over to the bedroom segment of the room. He flopped onto the bed and sighed. "I didn't realise how tired I am. I've done so much these past few days. I guess I should sleep." Claude's consciousness slowly faded as sleep claimed him.