Ian waited impatiently in an empty office room. They’d sequestered him there when they took away Maria. While no one treated him poorly, he hadn’t planned a several hour stop-over at a small border fort.

He wished his Remorse affinity was higher. If he was a peak Remorse practitioner, he could have altered the perception of the Life practitioner that had singled Maria out for her odd vital signature. Currently, while he could read the unprotected surface thoughts of regular military staff, the practitioners–most, if not all, of the officers–had been trained in passive mental defenses. While Ian could probably brute force his way into some of their minds, the intrusion would be noticed immediately.

He hated feeling incapable. Part of him almost missed being in Discardia, where he was back to having one, potent affinity. It was bizarre how the human mind worked, that he preferred being objectively weaker but more confident in what power he had.

I just have to work harder at Remorse, he told himself, and Beginning. Though Beginning being weak wasn’t as noticeable since it acted as more of a flat enhancement to everything else.

Euryphel’s here, Maria suddenly transmitted over the lich bond, interrupting Ian’s ruminations.

Oh, so he did come himself, Ian thought. The Crowned Executor’s presence would make everything easier.

Somehow, I’m not surprised. Ooh, he’s taking me away! Unlocking the doors to my interrogation room.

Good.

Unfortunately, the pesky Life practitioner from before is back and is questioning him.

Ian rolled his eyes. Y’jeni, of course she is.

Oh, I think they’re going to get into a fight.

Ian paused. Wait, what?

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the walls. Ian felt tremors through the chair. Maria, seriously, what’s going on?

Not sure. They didn’t even speak–the woman entered the interrogation room and Euryphel immediately started attacking her with his elementalism. They had fate, though–it’s possible Euryphel recognized her from somewhere.

Or he interrogated her in a Regret loop and didn’t like what he found. Whatever the truth was, Ian was done sitting around in a random office. He tried the door and it wasn’t even locked, so he strode out into the hallway.

At this point, the fort was on high alert, alarms ringing and personnel streaming into the hallways. It was overwhelming, his Beginning and Remorse affinities struggling to make sense of the chaos. Ian winced but kept going, undeterred. At least the chaos gave him a useful cover–a few people gave him questioning glances, but ultimately ignored him. He was probably just a scared, confused regular fleeing for cover.

… Right.

Another explosion rocked the base. How are they even making explosions? Ian asked Maria, his thoughts laced with accusation. Increasing his pace, he wished that he could just fly over, but that would ruin his cover. Euryphel has wind elementalism and the woman has Life affinity. Neither affinity should be this percussive.

Guilty, Maria confessed. To be fair, I started fighting in self-defense. The woman tried to kill me first.

The self-defense argument was a bit ludicrous–Maria would just reform if her body was destroyed. But coming back after death would reveal her necromantic nature, so Ian couldn’t fault her decision. Besides, dying wasn’t pleasant.

How is she still alive? Ian wondered. He was close, now.

Because she has a powerful defensive armament that makes capturing her alive difficult. It’s eastern tech. I could kill her if I went all out, but there isn’t a need. Not when it’s one against two.

Ian pushed past another set of doors. Finally, he could sense them outside–Maria’s lithe figure making gestures toward a woman brimming with powerful vitality, and a man suspended above the ground, almost unmoving.

The Life practitioner threw out a handful of seedlings that rocketed forth, locking onto Euryphel and Maria. The seeds were destroyed before reaching their destination, but a small subset fell halfway. Those grew into towering, tree-like constructs. Ian couldn’t perceive the flames that burned them and the wind that tore them to pieces, but the constructs fell like wheat before the sickle.

The Life practitioner had to know it wasn’t enough. The most expensive shields in the world couldn’t bring her victory against two peak practitioners. She was trying to retreat.

Ian wouldn’t let that happen. Whoever this woman was, she had secrets worth extracting.

With one final push, Ian exited the fortress, stepping onto a wide field used for training.

He was met with a sea of flames. His Beginning slowed down the world for a moment as he took in the scene. Everything was on fire, explaining why he hadn’t sensed the vitality of grass under foot. Such destruction was necessary when facing a Life practitioner who could weaponize the greenery.

He could barely see past the blaze and the smoke, but he saw Maria circling the Life practitioner like a vulture while Euryphel flew at a distance, their elementalism wrapping the adversary in a fiery cyclone. The wind whipped at Ian’s clothes and threatened to abscond with his margarita cap.

In the middle of the flaming vortex was the Life practitioner, her eyes so wide with fear, Ian could see her expression from a distance. But she had a resolute look to her and hadn’t yet backed down. Seven layers of shields surrounded her, mostly transparent aside from the black striations that oscillated over them, the pattern reminiscent of water sloughing down a hovergloss windshield. Ian intuited that there had once been more layers, but that they’d been broken.

So much for sprinting all the way here to keep up my cover, he thought with resignation. Should have just flown from the start.

He flew himself up and over the savage flames, then twisted and shot toward the Life practitioner like a missile. Fire and wind swirled around him.

As the distance shrunk, he tried to incapacitate the woman with his Death affinity. Her automated defenses couldn’t keep him out. He squeezed on a cluster of vessels supplying blood to her brain, but she resisted. He had expected it–he was still too far. But he had a cheat.

Ian blasted her with a mental attack. She resisted that as well–she had solid mental defenses, likely learned over a lifetime of practice–but it distracted her for a moment. That was all Ian needed.

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She sagged forward, unconscious. She’d been standing on a small patch of grass preserved by her shields, so that served as a cushion as she tumbled to the ground. Her defenses didn’t dissipate just because she was knocked out.

The wind and fire abated. Maria practically bounced over to the downed woman, her hands rubbing together. Ian couldn’t see what she was doing exactly, but it was related to End affinity. Euryphel walked over to her side, and they nodded to one another. They grasped hands, then stared at the collapsed woman intently.

A few seconds later, the shields popped.

“Where should I bring her?” Ian mentally inquired. This fort was in the Selejo Imperial Federation and Euryphel should have ultimate authority there, but that was only if the fort wasn’t compromised. Ian recognized that they were on the border of Brin and the former SPU, nations that had been warring enemies until a few months ago. While the Federation’s policies promoted autonomy among its member states, military power was a subject of contention. Reorganizing all member states under one military was a nightmare. From reading the news on the way over, Ian knew that preliminary efforts to unify the force–especially along state borders within the Federation–were an ongoing effort.

The Federation had started distributing some of its forces to promote a limited degree of unity, but aligning personnel records and distributing soldiers and officers was a prime opportunity for adversaries to sneak in their own spies–or make spies or dissidents out of the conquered soldiers.

Sere was a prime suspect–they bordered the Federation and traded extensively with the East. Ian could see them leveraging Infinity Loop tech for access to powerful glossware.

Euryphel considered Ian’s question for a moment. This fort should suffice.

As he thought that, a string of military personnel left the fort and walked warily onto the smoldering field. The one in front stopped before the trio and gave Euryphel a salute. “Sir.”

As far as they know, I’m a Colonel, Euryphel mentally explained. How powerful are these people?

Ian recognized the badges on the soldiers’ breasts, but rank didn’t always correlate with affinity. He inspected their vital signatures. “The major who’s saluting you is probably around 65% affinity if I had to guess. Moon affinity.” Given his rank, likely a water elementalist. “He’s the most powerful person in this group.”

“This woman was a foreign agent,” Euryphel stated. “She is extremely dangerous. We’re bringing her inside for interrogation.”

The major looked between Maria and Ian. “Sir, who are these?”

“None of your concern, major.”

The man saluted, his epaulets shaking with the motion. He motioned for his group to return to the fort.

“Major,” Euryphel called, “douse the field. In a few hours, I want it looking exactly like how it was before. Recruit anyone needed to get the job done.”

—

Tsarika tried to open her eyes, but they were glued shut. She stirred and found her body encased in what felt like solid earth.

With a start, she remembered what had happened. She’d been discovered, attacked.

And now, it seemed, she was imprisoned. None of her glossware responded to her thoughts, suggesting that they’d all been removed from her person. There was no vitality in the dense material that surrounded her, and it was thick, so she couldn’t force her way out even if she supercharged her muscles with vitality.

It was a grim situation to be in. Tsarika had no illusions as to her fate–she was screwed.

Suddenly, a loud voice intruded on her mental thoughts, forcing its way past her defenses. “Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Rumin. Or should I call you Tsarika?”

Her official name in the Brinnish system was Arika. How did this interrogator know that name? She hadn’t even been interrogated yet. Or had she? Her stomach dropped. That man, the colonel–he’d attacked her without any warning. She’d assumed that maybe he’d come for her all along, but maybe that wasn’t the case. Maybe he’d discovered her by chance… by using Regret scenarios.

That seemed so unlikely, though. Why would someone use Regret to interrogate an officer, especially a Life practitioner specializing in food production and supply chain logistics rather than combat?

Was anyone really that paranoid?

—

Euryphel interrogated the woman in scenarios leveraging Ian’s Remorse. The trio discussed any gleaned information and iterated through more questions until they had a more comprehensive understanding of the situation.

She’s from Brin, but is an agent of Sere, Euryphel said. She didn't cause the avalanche that stopped your hovergloss line. Another agent of Sere did that. The intent was for you both to be brought to the fort so she could scrutinize you.

“Is there a larger goal?” Ian asked. “She’s a fairly strong Life practitioner, and her benefactors gave her expensive equipment.”

Expensive is an understatement, Maria interjected. Those shields are difficult to produce… eastern powers only outfit their most senior officers with armaments like that. Sere must have paid through the nose to obtain them.

Euryphel exhaled sharply. She came here to search for necromancers.

Maria sucked in a breath. Then those leading the development of the Infinity Loop tech must have realized its true cost–one greater than just energy and auris.

There was no way the Infinity Loop’s creators could feign ignorance over the loop’s dangers if they knew about soul corruption. Even if most who worked on the loop tech or supported its development were kept in the dark, at the very least some people in positions of power knew the true dangers and proceeded onward anyway.

Ian frowned. If they’re looking for necromancers, it’s because necromancers are the only people who can see clearly where Infinity Loops are located because of the corrupted clouds of souls that gather above them. That made them dangerous.

Ian wanted to take a step back and re-center the conversation on their captive. “Why send Rumin to the Federation, rather than stationing her on Sere’s side of the Zigguran mountains?” Ian asked.

If you’re Sere, why not do both? Euryphel said, twisting the question. Even though the Infinity Loop tech was developed by a private company, Sere is fully invested in its success. It’s seen as the way forward. They’re doing whatever it takes to secure its future.

Ian locked eyes with Maria. “We must have tripped alarms when we arrived in Sere via transport array. We shouldn’t have taken any stops–that gave them time to act.”

But why act against you? Euryphel asked. Why target necromancers in this way? To the public, necromancers don’t exist. They’re killed on sight. But we know better–they can be found. He nodded to Ian. You found a necromancer easily enough.

Ian wouldn’t call his quest to find a necromancy mentor easy, but it had only taken a few days. He saw the point that Euryphel was trying to make, though, and it was troubling.

Suddenly, a new thought occurred to Ian. “Everything we’ve said is assuming that those in the know are perfectly comfortable knowing that the Infinity Loop is destroying the world, and want to eliminate all people–necromancers–who could blow the metaphorical whistle. But what if that’s all wrong?”

Euryphel gave him a dubious look, but Maria’s face was stoic, contemplative.

“What if they’re looking for necromancers to solve the soul corruption problem, so they can keep using the loop without repercussions?” Ian continued.

But it can’t be solved, Maria thought. That’s the point. This technology has destroyed world after world. If there were a better way, it would’ve been discovered long ago.

“They don’t know that,” Ian pointed out. He looked to the square chunk of earth holding the captive. “Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think I’m right. The shields around that woman–they were so strong because she needed to stay alive. If all Sere cared about was gaining information, they wouldn’t have bothered. Quantum channeling would allow the woman to transmit information back at the speed of thought, even if she died soon afterwards. But dead people can’t parlay with necromancers and convince them to head to Sere to solve the Infinity Loop problem.”

They stared at him, digesting his words.

How optimistic, Maria said, snorting. It’s usually more accurate to assume the worst of your enemies.

He smirked. “I’m glad I never assumed the worst about you.”