When Solomon spoke, the words left his lips and hung in the air like secondhand cigarette smoke. As Randidly opened his mouth, he could feel the distinct tang of knowledge and honesty hanging in the air.

Since arriving in the Nexus, Randidly had heard many people talking about the Pinnacle. They revered it; there was an entire group of people that were so obsessed with reaching it that they were named after it: the Pinnacle Seekers. The power divisions that he had encountered, as far as he could understand them, were constructed to describe how close a person was to reaching the Pinnacle.

For all that, when the shade of Solomon standing at the foot of the bed told Randidly he had the potential to reach that point on his own power, that goal felt quite distant despite the confident expression on the projection’s face. It was hard to even know what it would take to push his images to that potency.

Randidly’s thoughts turned inward for several seconds. But he ended up being pulled out of his thoughtful reflection by a soft laugh from Solomon. “Oh don’t worry, most people don’t share my optimistic opinion on you. Elhume included; you are still beneath his radar even if you’ve managed to defeat Wick. There’s no rush to fight him to the death. For now, you just need to continue doing what you’ve been doing.”

Randidly allowed himself to nod, still trying to figure out the pieces of this man with the mild smile and the grey hair. The way he spoke was disarming. Plus, there was a strange emotional resonance about him that kept grabbing Randidly’s attention. “So why did you call me down here now? Shouldn’t that bring more attention to me?”

Solomon gestured dismissively at the screened engraving underneath their feet. “There is no need to worry about that. If nothing else, I’m confident in my ability to create Engravings. I’d go so far as to say I’m best in the Nexus. Just to provide a little extra reassurance, this was drawn by the main body, before he fell into his slumber. Elhume cannot discover us here; he’s too disgusted by the presence of Pine to dig into the poor child’s shadow. Even when he came recently to make those ugly adjustments to the energy apparatus, he didn’t notice that I slept right here, under his nose.”

Randidly pursed his lips. “Who… exactly are you? How do you fit into the history of the Nexus?”

“A big question,” Solomon said easily. For the first time, the standing version left the foot of the bed. He walked across the blurry Engraving to a small area on the grand divide before the Nexus above and the howling abyss of morphing emotion below. He crouched down quite easily and began drawing an Engraving. His fingers danced like butterflies, with soft and fluttering touches. Mana glittered as his fingers left it behind. Soon an elegant little sigil flared to life, releasing a soft projection of light. Everything that light touched was covered in numbers and strange readings, so much that Randidly had to blink.

It looked like-

“To my great shame,” Solomon offered Randidly another half-smile of a child unlocking his toy chest and offering his most precious figurine. A pure note of guilt rippled out from Solomon. “I am the one who created the framework Elhume used to enact the overlay System. I don’t think you’ll find my name in any history, but I’m the engineer that helped tie everything together into the horrible pyramid scheme the Nexus has become. And I didn’t know what was happening until it was too late.”

If you were worried about Elhume being able to steal and repurpose images, you really fucked yourself with that one, Randidly thought somewhat spitefully, still aware that he had perhaps given Elhume new tools when he allowed his Fateset to be discovered by the System. But Solomon’s smile had a brittle edge; it was clear he understood and regretted what happened. So Randidly didn’t press on that issue.

“You didn’t answer my earlier question,” Randidly decided to let that information go for now. He would ask Edraine and the Patrons about Solomon Rex after. “Why call me down here? I can understand now how Pine acts as a natural amplifier to add some teeth to the message, but I still think any message had the potential of drawing attention you don’t want.”

“Ah, well it was about time for us to discuss a few different subjects. I think it’s time for you to start to understand how dangerous the Nexus can be,” Solomon Rex shook his head. Randidly blinked; if anything, he was confident in his understanding of how dangerous the Nexus is.

His reaction must have shown on his face because Solomon snorted. “Oh, yes, I understand you’ve had to fight and claw every moment you’ve been in the Nexus. But you’ve faced the wild frontier of the Nexus so far. I would recommend that as quickly as possible you get yourself a Tier III Citizenship coin. Only when you’ve walked across the high-walled castle built there can you understand the polite monsters that have no doubt been noticing your meteoric rise. More than Elhume who nurses his own obsessions, those Tier III individuals who want to maintain the status quo will be the threats. Because they’ve definitely been watching you, after what happened with Claudette Beigon.”

Randidly’s eyes sharpened. Perhaps it was the meek honesty that Solomon displayed or the dispassionate mention of Claudette, but he wanted to pressure this man. “And what exactly did happen? You tried to control Claudette by having your daughter betray us?”

“Yes,” Solomon nodded easily.

Perhaps his easy confession shouldn’t have been so shocking, but Randidly blinked several times. “You… just yes?”

“Of course,” Solomon nodded one more time. “The Don and I have a long and tumultuous relationship. I won’t bore you with the details, but while we both help manage Alymian, but he is part of the reason that my main body is sleeping. Getting an edge over him is a difficult thing, and it would make my own goals that much easier to accomplish.”

Suddenly, Randidly realized the strange emotional notes coming off of Solomon. He had only a thimble full of emotional force in the projected version. Most of it probably slumbered along with the body in the bed. Yet that small amount was kept in perfect tune and strummed with those same soft and delicate fingers he used to Engrave. If Devick’s emotions were forceful, Solomon’s were gentle.

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And for the first time since he faced Elhume, Randidly felt himself slightly in awe of another individual’s power. Even his Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae wouldn’t be able to mimic that sort of deftness.

“The Don doesn’t seem like an easy person to partner with,” Randidly finally observed, remembering how the Don had used the debt he owed to Randidly, without really consulting him about whether it would be useful. He had coincidentally ended up in a situation where he could take advantage of it, but he very easily could have just ended up with useless knowledge.

If that final fight hadn’t been on the tower, if Devick hadn’t destroyed the defenses and Randidly hadn’t tried to reconstruct them-

This time, Randidly interrupted his own train of thoughts. “But why do you want to cooperate with him if he put you in this strange sleep?”

“We might disagree on the method…” The smile vanished from Solomon’s face. “But at the very least, both of us still wish to open a door to Eden with the Nexus. No matter what, we need to make sure Pine can survive. He is… he has committed no sin. Just been used by selfish individuals with too large egos. He’s the last pure thing remaining in this isolated dimension.”

Randidly resisted the urge to look up at the sphere floating above them. Both because it might show some of his dubiousness at such a rosy picture of the dismembered limbs floating above and also because looking into that golden-edged dreamworld just made him more disturbed by the vast abyss of emptiness that must lurk within.

Controlling that impulse to look was made more difficult by how genuinely Solomon believed his words.

“Speaking of my strange sleep, I have something that you likely need,” Solomon straightened and walked back to the bedside. His fingers were thin and graceful as he reached toward the throat of his real body and plucked something off of a golden chain. Then he returned to Randidly and offered him the strange, milky crystal. “Here, take it. I am not an expert in Nether Cores by any means, but you head down a dangerous path with only one of your Authorities awakened. This will balance you until you’ve activated them all.”

Randidly, who had endured several shocks during this conversation, had at least enough presence of mind to keep his expression even as Solomon shifted so suddenly to his Authorities. To distract himself, he glanced down. The crystal was a milky blue color and shaped like a teardrop the size of a lime. Underneath the strange faux-light of the dream above and the Engravings below, it glittered constantly.

After a heavy pause, with Solomon extending the item toward Randidly the entire time, Randidly finally said, “Mr. Rex, if you are not an expert in Nether Cores, I’m not sure who can be considered one in the Nexus. But… what is this?”

Another ghost of a smile flickered across Solomon’s face. “Ah, yes, I had heard of Lathis’s demise. Truly, he did not go softly into that good night; I have a feeling that his murderer hasn’t yet seen the last of N’Gick. That man settled his grudges. As for this crystal… it is precisely what you need right now: a Penance.”

Solomon continued speaking while Randidly’s gaze fixated on the crystal. “Authorities are strange things that I’ve only ever fought against. You, Randidly, are the first citizen of the Nexus to condense the genuine article. However, I understand they come from the foundation of your Nether Core. Considering your three images, I would expect you possess three Authorities. Having one develop while the others haven’t been discovered will lead to some irregularities in Nether rotation. A Penance will balance that. Act as a counterweight while you grow into your full form.”

“Where did you get it?” Randidly whispered, looking at the teardrop shape. In a way, it was hard to believe this to be a Nether Penance he had hypothesized. The more he stared, the more his awareness sank into the details. The smooth and the curved arcs, the inner light, the dance of soft color. In addition, a portion of it moved. Randidly could see the light rising and falling at an even pace.

“Ah. An old story.” Solomon scratched the back of his neck with his other hand. “In my younger days, I was quite zealous in my persecution of genuine Nether beings; you’ve undoubtedly heard of the Nether Wars. Well, one in particular had… wounded a close friend. At great personal cost, I tracked down the offending Nether King and slew him. This is his Penance. His family was one of great import to the Nether people; this Penance possesses great power. Holding it is a heavy burden, but that is exactly the point of a Penance.”

You deride Elhume for stealing the strength of others, yet you bear the trophy from a fallen Nether King.

“Thank you, but I think I’ll try to condense my own Penance first,” Randidly answered slowly.

Solomon shook his head. “Now, just hear me out. I have no doubt that you’ll be able to figure out the method to condense a Penance. In the end, Penances are simply ways of making each moment more significant. Nether beings willingly pay a constant cost to increase the weight each moment has. However, I think your Penance will be light. Not of your own design, but because while you may use any number of Penances, each individual can only create one. A light Penance will earn you nothing in the end. Besides, this is the way of Penances. They are not like Fates, bound to a person. Among Nether people, it was often encouraged to pass down your Penance to the next generation to help them improve.

“Lastly, you can stop using a Penance at any time. At the very least, I recommend you experience the particular for a time, so you can use that knowledge to form your own.”

Solomon’s words swayed Randidly. Or perhaps it wasn’t just the words, it was the strange forthright attitude of the projection, standing next to his own sleeping form. Every action and explanation felt honest. Which could be a front, but Randidly was more inclined to believe that Solomon genuinely meant to help him. That emotional purity and resonance weren’t faked.

Of course, Solomon’s assistance was likely only to push Randidly more toward a clash with Elhume.

Nodding slowly, Randidly reached out and took the Nether Penance. Almost immediately, he felt Nether stirring in his chest restlessly, seeming to want to dig its way into the Nether Penance right this moment. He restrained that impulse and was relieved to feel the stone as an inert weight in his hand. “What’s the cost you were talking about?”

“This particular specimen requires seconds,” Solomon looked at the crystal almost wistfully. “You can consider it a timepiece. As a Penance, you are required to give it one second out of every minute, in its base form. This can be slightly banked or deferred, so it doesn’t interrupt you in an important meeting or fight. But so long as you bear that Penance, one of your precious seconds will no longer be yours.”

“Can it be deferred indefinitely?” Randidly asked. Already, he could see the way that giving up one second would help accumulate additional significance in the other fifty-nine.

Rather than answer, Solomon quirked his lips and looked back at his sleeping form. Only after understanding dawned on Randidly’s face did he speak. “...eventually the debt will come due, with interest. But believe me when I say I needed the power and don’t regret the choice I made. No matter how the Don played me like a fool.”

Randidly licked his lips and then looked at the Penance in his hand. It felt oddly cool against his skin like fresh mint would feel on his tongue. “How many seconds did you give it?”

“Twenty-nine out of sixty.” Solomon’s chuckle was dark and dry, like a burned and hollowed tree collapsing after a forest fire. “I burned brightly for a short period… but in the end, it wasn’t enough.”