“Unfortunate. That is the condition to join us. Everyone will achieve their revenge and not a single one will leave the group until the end. Unfortunate, truly, as you are very skilled,” as Revensol said, the Qi within his body seemed to slowly be circulating, as though crawling, but it carried with it a power that could not be disregarded, especially by someone as weak as the harvester in front of him. As he was thinking about how he should get rid of the young harvester in front of him, the one sitting in front of him spoke seemingly unaware of the danger he was currently in.
It made him curious. ‘What is it that allows him to remain so calm?’ Revensol wanted to know. Knowing, it was the only thing that had accompanied him during the many cycles he had lived all alone. Because he wanted to know, he stopped, not crushing the one on the other side of the table.
“I don’t want to join your group. Just make use of me. You will have an outsider at your disposal that you can use without any care while I will be able to get my revenge within a reasonable timeframe,” As Inero-ie said that, he was completely calm, his expression unchanged since he had entered the room.
The sound of fingers repeatedly knocking on the armrest echoed inside the room. Inero-ie remained quiet and unfazed while Revensol leaned back against his chair. With a final knock that sounded somehow deeper than all the previous ones, Revensol stopped once again sitting upright.
Family: Nyob
Current head: Vissbl Pobis Noyb
Two highlight lines appeared in front of Inero-ie while even more detailed information was available below as holograms sprang up in front of both Inero-ie and Revensol.
“This item, you will have to place it inside the room of Vissble. If you can succeed without getting caught, I will make use of you,” Revensol took out a data stone from one of the drawers and threw it towards Inero-ie who caught it.
As Inero-ie was standing up to leave, Revensol stopped him, handing him a piece of paper that appeared completely normal, “Sign this contract before you leave.”
Inero-ie sat down and took the paper his Thread converging toward it to read what was written on the paper but when the Threads made contact with the seemingly normal paper, what he held in his hands became completely different. More and more Threads surrounded the paper and in just a moment he had already identified thousands of base-level formations that were engraved on this paper.
The words that were written on the paper were also carefully articulated, each acting as an anchor connecting to the thousands of formations invisible to the eye. Even the words that seemed unimportant were connected to a few hundred formations while more key phrases were connected to thousands. These connections all converged at the place he would sign, acting as a very powerful binding that would enforce the power of this contract.
Threads traced out each of the base formations, then the various combinations of base formations that gave rise to an even greater number of formations which then gave rise to even more formations. This kept happening the more time he spent sending them.
Carefully holding the masterpiece in his hand, Inero-ie raised his head towards the man sitting on the other side, the Threads once again wrapping around him, and he asked, “Where did you get this from?”
“I made it, now sign it quickly. It will just stop you from disclosing any information about us, knowingly or unknowingly. Just a precaution,” Revensol said while his eyes moved towards the side, reading the message he had just received.
“Are you a Seeker?” Inero-ie asked. The masterpiece that he held within his hand surely had to be a creation of a Seeker. Such a beautiful and complex construction, all shoved inside a small piece of paper, the one who could perform such a task had to be a Seeker.
“Seeker?” As Revensol uttered that word he felt a burning anger trying to rush out again but he forced it down and eventually said, “No. I am not a Seeker.”
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“Why not? You should be qualified,” The amount of effort it took to create a formation, the time and effort that had to be invested, Inero-ie knew it very well. How many cycles had he spent researching and repeatedly working on each and every single formation that made up his Threads? That was precisely why Revensol’s answer baffled him.
“Qualification is not everything, young harvester. Now sign that contract and complete this mission. If you do so, I will make use of you.” Revensol said once again.
With a nod, Inero-ie signed the contract, pouring the Qi afterward on his signature without Revensol telling him to do so.
“You are skilled. No wonder you survived until now,” Revensol said.
“I will be leaving,” After saying that, Inero-ie left the room.
***
A man was leading Inero-ie to the exit once more and once more his Threads spread all around, making him aware of everywhere they reached. There were rooms all around him, massive rooms that were more apt to be called halls. Men and women in separate rooms were working, some planning, some readying the equipment, some arranging the massive database of information they had available. His Thread extended, spreading out towards other buildings. Some were sleeping, others training, but what he found present in all was an aura that was usually found in harvesters.
There was a harvest leaning against the wall next to the door, Venger, Inero-ie remembered, was his name. Still leaning, the man looked up and after a glance lowered his head once again and continued leaning against the wall.
Inero-ie's footsteps could no longer be heard but Venger remained there leaning against the wall as though he was asleep. Only after some time had passed did he enter the building, heading towards Revensol's office.
Knock knock.
"Come in," Upon gaining permission, Venger entered the room which was filled with a multitude of constantly changing holograms.
Without Revensol ordering, Venger started reporting, "His face was definitely very familiar. I had worked with his parents many times as they required quite a few materials from outside to conduct their research. They were the ones on the verge of becoming Seekers but unfortunately, they got killed."
"Percentage?" Revensol asked, still focused on his work.
Seeker. It was a title as well as a status as well as power, a power endowed by the unmatched Great Families. The way to attain this coveted title was simple: provide enough knowledge that it would fill up the total knowledge required to expand the Grand Formations.
That was the only way to increase the size of the settlement. Once the Grand Formation expanded, so would the habitable zone.
To attain the title, one had to provide knowledge valuable enough and vast enough that it would cover at least one-fifth of the total requirement. This also meant the title was increasingly difficult to acquire each time the Grand Formation was expanded as the amount of knowledge required would also increase.
"At least 30% each and there were three of them. The remainder was a man from the capital. That was the rumor that I had heard back then. In hindsight, that may be true." Venger replied.
“No wonder no wonder. Those power-hungry bastards would definitely not have allowed this otherwise they would have lost considerable power,” Revensol said, suddenly understanding why had killed a whole sector but with the understanding once again came the anger, anger that he did not allow to surface.
“Get me all information about that event, as much as you can without alerting them,” Revensol told Venger.
“As you order. It will be difficult to unearth any though. Those guys are very experienced at cleaning up otherwise Mus-Draik’s would not have their hands tied,” Venger replied.
“Try anyways,” after saying that, Revensol shifted his attention back to the work he had been doing, but a part of his mind was still thinking about this conversation.
***
Inero-ie did not immediately head to the top layer of the settlement, instead headed towards the Grave Tower for the last visit. At high speed, he waved through the flowing crowd that was walking instead of taking trains.
It had remained unchanged. The Grave Tower was just like it had been since he had first laid his eyes upon it. A cold place, somehow dark despite the lights, devoid of any people.
Still Melded with darkness, he entered this Layer tower, his feet automatically heading towards his destination, walking through the vast numbers of towering columns, each filled with remains of the dead. After a while, he arrived before three pairs of eyes that were now even lower than before, almost reaching the ground after which they would be shifted to the graves outside the settlement.