Gold, Black, Green, and White, she thought. The newest Factions of the Academy.

Millie shook her head, leaning against the railing overlooking the main entrance of their ‘Faction Headquarters,’ something they were told wouldn’t be implemented but had been anyway. Or at least, it was beginning to be. Staring at the Obelisk on the ground floor, visible from her location above, she played with a Tarot card in her hand. It showed the Lesser Omen that had appeared every time she’d tried to read the monument. Her consultation on it had been…troubling, to say the least.

I wish we never found that stupid thing, she thought bitterly. Maybe shit wouldn’t have gone tits up if we hadn’t. She tucked The Tower back into her sleeve as she continued to glare at the pillar of stone.

“There you are,” CJ said, and Millie turned to see him approaching. He’d been hard at work, his rare disheveled appearance proof of that. He smiled as he got close, which was a good sign. They needed more of those, now more than ever.

“Yeah,” she said, “I decided to take a break while I waited for you to bring the acid by.” She glanced back towards the Obelisk below one last time.

“You still worried about it?” CJ asked, stepping up beside her, joining her on the railing.

Millie bit her lip. “I honestly think it would have been fine to let the Seeds go, but everything that’s come with it has been…” She trailed off, shuddering with equal parts worry and frustration.

“I know,” CJ said with a sigh, wrapping an arm around her. “I know.”

Millie’s group had debated the conditions, and the likelihood of getting more Seed Gifts, and had decided to only make a move if attaining one seemed viable. They wouldn’t go out of their way to deprive the other students of the chance to grow—or at least, that had been their initial outlook. One born of fairness, perhaps even honor. But they’d overlooked something important. Something very important.

They weren’t the only ones with power in Magincia. They were just the only ones willing to share it.

“It’s not your fault,” CJ told her. “None of us knew they’d act like this.”

“We should have seen it coming,” Millie retorted. She couldn’t hide the anger in her voice. “I should have seen it coming. Not just all the new unlocks, but what those three fuckers would do. They’ve been slowly working in the background this whole time, just waiting for an opportunity.”

And we gave them one, Millie thought darkly. Even now, as the fifth M-night began, nearly ten M-hours since the reveal, she didn’t need to access the Forums again to know how bad it was. She could feel it in the air, hear it out the window. Sense it with her Attainment.

War on the streets.

“Hey,” CJ said, turning her away from the Obelisk. “Here.”

He handed her a small vial that glowed a soft white light. That doesn’t look like acid, she thought. Grabbing it, she held it up to regard it closer, noticing a strangeness to the liquid. Impressions of faces coming in and out of focus.

That nearly made her drop it, but a quick glance at CJ’s smiling face, and she realized there was more to it. She quickly saw just what that was, too. The images, and impressions, didn’t seem haunted, frightened, or anything like that. They seemed…happy. Kind. Moments, trapped in time, of better days.

She was looking at liquid memory.

“You did it, didn’t you?” She said in awe. “What is this? Distilled soul juice?” She laughed, sparking a similar response from her oldest friend.

“You’re not entirely wrong,” he told her. “I wasn’t able to get a lot, but that has bits from me, Braylon, and D’marco. Don’t worry though, while the stats are bonded with memories, we didn’t lose them. Just…shared them, is all. The others lined up to donate too, but we didn’t have enough so we made a choice to, ah…”

Millie winced when she realized the common denominator. “The weakest at magic gave first?”

CJ nodded sheepishly. “I know that I was listed top picks for magic, but I haven’t practiced nearly as much as the rest of you. So, honestly, I’m not going to feel the loss of those magic stats nearly as much as someone like Catherine or Katelyn might. Most of my ‘fighting’ style, if you can call it that, revolves around juicing my friends up anyway.”

Millie nodded, cradling the precious vial. “I take it you used up the last of the soul restorative then?”

“I did,” he said, sighing sadly. “I don’t know what we’ll have to do to get more from the Green fuckface, but just be sure to be somewhere comfortable when you take that. It’ll probably knock you out for a good ten minutes.”

I could probably use a nap anyway, she told herself. Once more, she found her thoughts turning back towards the raging storm outside. She shook her head, trying to free herself of the weight of it all, and turned to CJ, giving him a forced smile.

“You know, it could be worse,” she said jokingly, hoping to lighten the mood. “Instead of a potion, you might’ve needed to inject me. Don’t tell Tanya, but the needles the doctors used for the marrow transplant gave me nightmares for weeks. I still can’t stand the sight of them. Blegh.”

“Is that so…?” CJ smirked, before pulling back his coat. Cocking an eyebrow, she followed his gesture as he pulled out a giant cylinder that had been on his waist. It was connected to a…

“Jesus-fucking-Christ, CJ. Please tell me you don’t plan on actually using that?”

CJ laughed, closing his coat and re-holstering the world's largest syringe. Yup, more nightmares incoming. Stupid brat.

“Nah,” he told her. “This one’s in case I need to extract or inject a hostile target. Hopefully, it’ll never come to that and just showing off the needle will be enough to scare people off.”

“It’d work on me,” Millie said, snorting. “Anyway, let’s get—”

She was cut off by the sounds of the main entrance opening up. Marching through, Isabella sauntered inside, gesturing as she spoke to a small crowd that trailed after her.

“I get you’re hesitant, but our Wards are more powerful than any residence you’ll find in the Academy. In the west wing, we’ve got new dorms you can make yourself at home in and join the others. If you want to move out later, you’re free to do so, but until then we’ll do our best to protect you.”

“Can you really promise that?” A man from the crowd said. “That we’ll be safe here?”

“Do you think we’d still be here otherwise?” She shot back. “The White Faction doesn’t enslave people like the others, we help them. You think the others haven’t tried to come at us in retaliation because of that?” The crowd murmured in response, but no one else spoke up to challenge her.

CJ leaned in close and whispered. “More potential recruits?”

“Something like that…” Millie answered quietly. He has been locked away all day, hasn’t he?

Isabella continued walking onward, gesturing toward the Obelisk, and giving more explanations. This crowd held a familiar face, however, and Millie found herself giving a small wave to Joshua and his aunt, both of whom quickly returned it. Then, the group was gone—heading further inside.

“Let’s go,” Millie finally said, pushing off the railing, and walking away.

“How many does that make now, do you know?” CJ asked, following in her wake.

“Fifty? Maybe?” She answered. “None of them are set for an alliance yet though. They just want to get out of the way until things blow over.” If they blow over.

“Fuck,” CJ cursed softly. “You’d think at least some of them might be willing to lend a hand.”

“To what end?” Millie shot back. “None of us can stand up against Rebecca or Liam. Hell, even Thomas’ roided-up cronies are proving to be too much. Just be glad they were willing to take up our offer to pay for housing so we’re at least getting something out of it.”

CJ fell quiet at the reminder, and Millie kicked herself mentally. He’s just venting, I shouldn’t be shitting on him like this.

“Look, it’s why the others changed course,” she said. “We just have to hope we can get another Seed, even one more could protect us. The others should be back soon and we can discuss exactly what we’re going to do about it all.”

“I hope we can get more than one,” he said bitterly. “The thought of any one of those assholes having even more power is terrifying. We can see how they’re abusing the fuck out of it now.”

The two lapsed into silence as they walked. She didn’t say it, but she agreed with him wholeheartedly. We should’ve realized the others would abuse their powers to give their little ‘Factions’ the upper hand, she thought. We should’ve seen this coming.

But they hadn’t. Perhaps it had been a coincidence, but her unlocking of the Weaver’s Hall had corresponded with the ‘unlocking’ of many hidden functions in Magincia. Like it was waking up, preparing for the next stage. New quests, new features, a new baseline to get used to. Hell, even the Arena which had been closed to all but duels had been activated.

Another thing the robots either lied or were wrong about, she noted. Just like the Faction system. Just like the timing of the Remedy. Do they ever tell us the truth? Hospitality week is far from over and yet here we are.

It just all felt early though. Too soon. Yet, they couldn’t put the genie back in the bottle.

Among the changes happening across the Academy, the student dorms had been ‘opened’ up, so to speak. Visiting other students and their dorms had always been possible with an invite, but now you didn’t even need that. Terminals had appeared on the sides of the towers, and anyone could go anywhere at any time. No one had thought much of it until reports of Rebecca walking in, destroying servitors, and kidnapping people from their homes came out. The Wards inside had done little more than act as paper walls against her might.

The first response, naturally, had been panic. What were people supposed to do about a girl in power armor that couldn’t be stopped?

Then the first ‘solution’ came in the form of demons; offering ‘protection’ for contracts. Liam and his deals. Power at the cost of pieces of your soul.

After that, Thomas began offering an alternative in the form of potions to supercharge people. The problem was that those unlucky enough to partake found he’d put in addictive additives. In some cases, going without a fix could literally be lethal.

Terror, corruption, and betrayal, Millie thought. She walked past one of the many banners hung on the walls of their new compound, thinking the words on it of ‘Conviction, Wisdom, and Ambition,’ should be changed. The tenants the students have created are worse than any stupid school motto.

Desperate for a solution that wasn’t poisonous, people had begun looking around and discovered that housing inside the Academy had become available, which had enhanced protections capable of fending off even Rebecca. The problem was they were expensive, ridiculously so, and many students were breaking up into clusters of classes, like mini-Factions, pooling their resources to afford it. It was leading to massive infighting among the ‘Neutral Factions’ though, as options were limited. Though some, armed with powerful items gained from hidden quests, tried to stand up and fight back against the big three.

Millie didn’t know how many had died, only that they’d failed.

Millie’s Faction, the White Faction, just wasn’t powerful enough to stop the others either, and everyone knew it. They were trying to help, trying to offer advice and shelter, but few people took that offer. It quickly became apparent that the other three Factions—Gold, Black, and Green—had been waiting for this moment.

They’d been deliberately recruiting in the background, and now openly enslaving others, all for a simple purpose: they were blocking access to the other Seed gifts. Fighting over them like scraps, to increase the power of their Factions, seeing who would come out on top. Who would rule Magincia.

Millie had thought that the ban on concentrating power into single individuals would protect them somehow. She’d been naive. All it had done was simply change people’s tactics on how to acquire strength. Like an enslaved lackey with a Seed Gift, she thought. Each of the three other Factions had powers designed to control. What good was forbidding a concentration of power when they could just use others like puppets?

I know this is my fault, she thought. I know CJ doesn’t believe me, but I know it is. Her Death Knell vision showed her an Academy that was very different. She’d seen the others in the vision, of course, but there hadn’t been a war for the Seeds. No Gift of the Axiom either. Hell, even Liam hadn’t stooped this low in that alternate reality.

What a world of difference her having power had made.

To make matters worse, she had little doubt, given the way her enemies were so coordinated and quick to react, that her Drawback was partially to blame. Thomas had already admitted to being hired earlier by some ‘mysterious’ person to run smear campaigns on Millie, and a quick Tarot reading had revealed the hidden hand of the Fortune-Teller and his long laid out plans. He was actively communicating with them, and had been working to undermine her Faction before it ever existed. Just how much was he going to mess with her?

And how many were going to die as a result?

“So…what did you need the acid for anyway?” CJ said, interrupting Millie’s brooding.

“Hmm?” She said, turning to look at him. “Oh, well the only tool I have at my disposal is a broken machine so I need to get it running.”

And pray to God it can make a difference, she silently added. The two walked down a set of stairs, heading into the Orrery. CJ paused when he entered, letting out a soft whistle.

“Damn, you’ve been busy!” He said.

Millie nodded, glancing over to see her robot drop a several-ton metal ring on the floor. It lined up perfectly with the sphere hung above, just one of dozens of similar pieces. Now, she just needed to fix it in place. However the fuck I’ll manage that, she thought bitterly. She hadn’t found many options so far and had focused mostly on cleanup and staging of materials for the time being.

“I’ve got to find a way to change things,” she said quietly. “We can’t just roll over and let one of the other Factions take over the Academy.”

“I mean,” he replied, kicking at a loose bit of scrap on the floor. “I’m all for it, but, ah, seriously—why the acid?”

Millie smirked, gesturing to her robot who came running and headed over to the corner of the room. There, a barely visible outline of a panel could be seen on the floor.

“Setting up the main bits out here wasn’t too hard,” Millie said. It really hadn’t been—her Eyes of Fate had let her see where each piece needed to go, even if she was forced to leave most of it on the floor for now. “However, the main mechanism doesn’t seem to want to fire up, so I haven’t been able to test it. I’m pretty sure there's some hidden engine to it that’s busted, and I think this little guy might be an access hatch—but it's welded shut somehow. It's about the only metal part of the floor too.”

“Welded shut?” CJ said, frowning as he squatted down, examining it closer. “Are you sure?”

“That’s what my robot says,” she answered.

CJ ran a hand along the seam. “I don’t see any signs of welding though. This doesn’t make sense…was it deliberate? Magical?”

“Maybe,” she agreed. “The Orrery looks like it’s been deliberately sabotaged in some way, probably as part of a quest to fix it. However, I also think that it might have been moved here. Recently.”

CJ raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think that?”

“Something about the way the Sympathetic Links connect between the machine and the room, and the room and the Weaver’s Hall, feels odd,” she answered. “Almost forced, or artificial. If I had to guess—this entire room looks like it got shifted in magically. I think wherever it might’ve been before was exposed to a vacuum at some point too.”

“Wait, as in open space?” He asked. “Why would…oh, of course. Cold welding. That’s why the panels stuck. Wait, why aren’t the other pieces fused together then?”

She shrugged. “Either it has to do with the difference in material, or it's a recent creation. I think it's recent given the oddities between the machine bits and the room itself.”

“The robots built this, then broke it? Just for your quest?”

He looked at Millie’s robot. The metal girl just shrugged.

“Either way, I want inside,” Millie told him. “Hope that acid of yours is as strong as I asked for?”

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CJ gave her a lazy grin. “Stronger, probably. I’d warn you to stand back but this stuff doesn’t splash.”

She watched her friend pull out another vial, much larger than the soul juice he’d given her. It had a glass stopper and a series of gold-wrought Runes on it and contained a practically glowing, crystal clear blue liquid. He unstoppered it carefully and began to pour it around the edge of the panel. The acid was extremely viscous and fell like molasses onto the metal.

CJ hadn’t lied though—it didn’t splash. It glooped in an almost unnatural way. Slowly, he made his way around the panel, the metal making sizzling noises as it just…disappeared. Millie frowned, expecting smoke, or sludge, or something to be left behind, but instead the liquid ate at the metal, slowly growing smaller until both it, and the material it consumed, was gone.

“I…why do I feel like I just watched a violation of the conservation of mass and energy?” She asked. There was no trace of either acid or metal.

“Look, try not to think about it, okay?” He warned, finishing up the last of the seam. He still had half a vial left. “I like to think that it's converting the material into Mana, though I can’t verify it. It helps my peace of mind.”

Millie sighed. “You know, I’m glad I decided to leave Alchemy to you.”

“Me too,” he said, snorting. “Your first creation probably would have been a super egg.”

“Oh, come on,” she said. “I don’t like eggs that much.”

“You once made an omelet filled with scrambled eggs and topped it with fried ones,” he retorted. He looked up after pocketing his acid, his eyes judging her.

“It was delicious and I refuse to feel guilty over it.”

“You got sick after,” he shot back.

“That’s because I had a few too many eggs, that’s all.”

“A dozen eggs isn’t a ‘few too many.’ ”

“I had a hangover and it sounded like a good idea at the time—Anyway!” Millie said sharply, turning to her servitor. “Miss robot, would you mind opening this panel?”

“Of course, Mist…er, Millie. Of course.”

Millie watched in sullen silence as her robot bent down, her fingers curling into the now exposed edges of the material, and flipped it open like a piece of plyboard. The metal sheet thudded, loudly, to the side and the three of them peered into the new opening. A set of stairs led into a dark, featureless space below.

“You know,” CJ said. “If this was all in a vacuum, shouldn’t it have been unpressurized inside?”

“That’s assuming there isn’t airflow down there already,” she said. “Or that they didn’t just magic in some air when they put it here.”

He sighed, before heading down the stairs. “Well, gives me a chance to use the one Spell I do know. Light.”

With his words, his hands came alive with a sparkling, steaming light that danced on his hands like a white, heatless flame. Millie laughed, rolling her eyes as she followed him down. Figures he’d learn that after how embarrassed both he and Catherine got over not having the most ‘basic cantrip.’

The underside of her Orrery contained, surprisingly, exactly what Millie expected to find. As CJ’s light illuminated the room, flaring with an overcharging of Mana she felt pouring off of him, she saw a large collection of gears, pipes, and machinery connecting to the Orrery above. She also found what she feared.

“Fuck,” Millie said, wiggling a gear that was stuck fast to a counterpart. “It’s all…fused.”

“Guess you’re going to have to find a Spell to fix this,” CJ said, ever the optimist. “We can try looking for one in the Archives?”

Millie tsked, shaking her head as she took in the area. She was running out of time and this was the last thing she needed. She paused, however, when she noticed an indent on the wall nearby. A door. CJ still had some acid left, didn’t he?

“Hey, what are the odds they had a maintenance closet down here?”

----------------------------------------

A while later the group gathered in one of the conference rooms of the Weaver’s Hall. It was rather large, with a number of useful features they’d discovered, enough that they’d decided to dub it The War Room. Here, they’d decided to discuss their grand plan to save themselves and the Academy.

So far, their best plan was total shit.

“We’ll be spreading ourselves too thin,” Katelyn warned. The voice of reason.

“If we don’t try then we’re just giving them the Seeds!” Isabella retorted. Always hungry.

“Some things are worth trying for. Even if we fail.” Raj. His deep voice, even now, was tinged with sadness. The weight of someone who’d seen too much.

“Millie?” CJ said. “You…paying attention?”

“Sorry,” she said, snapping back into focus. “I’m here.” The others were looking at her, several of which had given up parts of themselves for her. She could still feel the memories they’d shared alongside them.

D’marco seeing his baby sister for the first time and promising to be a good big brother. Braylon playing basketball as a kid with his adopted father, talking about bullying and resolving to be a good man like him someday. CJ laying on a blanket staring at the stars while the two of them camped in the backyard, considering a future he’d thought he’d lose over one drunken mistake.

Hope and love—that was what they’d given her. One day she’d pay that back tenfold.

“CJ said you’ve been making progress with your Orrery,” Raj said to her. “Any idea on a timeframe for it?”

Isabella leaned forward, standing over the table where a map of the Academy was displayed magically. “No offense, but does that thing actually matter right now? Last I heard there isn’t any indication of what it can do. It seems a little late in the game for a wild card.”

Millie hesitated. There was what she knew and what she felt. Unfortunately, the Orrery fell under the latter.

“I don’t know for sure,” she admitted. “The only thing I know is that a sort of doom is waiting for us if we don’t make a try for the Seeds. How exactly that’s going to play out, and what we can do about it, is all up in the air, and this machine is…about all I can do about it.”

“Jesus, can you be more vague?” Isabella muttered.

“Bad things I sense in your future,” Millie said, waving her arms about. She gave the girl a shit-eating grin and was answered by a good-natured scoff. “In all seriousness, I just want something on our side, you know? My Gift is supposed to be equal to the others, but so far it feels like it's costing us more than it gives. I’m hoping the Orrery might help change that.”

“Is there a way we can help?” Catherine offered. She was off to the side where she’d been pacing. Millie had never seen her do that before, but she figured there were worse ways to handle stress.

Sadly, Millie had to shake her head. “I’ve made progress. CJ and I found a closet full of tools, most of which if I can get working should help us get it back up and running. But, while I work on that, the rest of you need to act. Soon, before it's too late.”

“Speaking of, let’s go over what we know,” Raj said. “Then we can finalize the plan. First off, the easiest Seed gift we’ve confirmed is Materia. It's for sale, on discount apparently, in the system.”

“What’s the price?” Isabella asked. She’d been busy most of the day so it wasn’t surprising she didn’t know.

“About a hundred grand,” he shot back, watching with borderline satisfaction as the beauty balked.

“Can anyone afford that?” She said.

Raj shrugged. “Possibly, with the arena open. The Materia Seed is the only item listed that accepts the Arena’s currency alongside regular RP. But, I say we write that one off.”

“That quickly?” The beauty replied.

“We can only contest so much,” Raj admitted. “Besides, an unknown student has been mugging anyone coming from the arena, using a hidden item or power he must’ve won that makes him damn near impossible to track down. People have been calling him the Stalker, though thankfully he hasn’t killed anyone. Yet.”

Millie grimaced alongside the others. They hadn’t known it, but apparently, it was possible to steal another student's RP if you could get a hold of their Soul Scroll.

“Well good ‘luck’ to him,” Millie muttered darkly. She didn’t actually wish him anything but pain as his victims were being targeted by the other Factions after being weakened. “If even one person can identify him, then everyone he’s stolen from will be able to lodge a complaint and then it’ll be disciplinary time with the Headmaster.”

“If they get it within a twenty M-hour window of being robbed, sure,” Raj said, before shaking his head. “Anyway, the next Seed I want to discuss is Ataxia. I think we should write that one off as well.”

“Why is that?” Isabella asked. It was Katelyn who answered, however.

“For practicality if nothing else,” the tall girl said. “Unlike the other Seeds, the hints for Ataxia are blatantly misleading. It’s empty phrases and directions. Things like ‘the answer is probably inside you all along,’ or ‘look for truth but turn left at the door.’ No one in the Academy has any clue what any of it means and even less idea where to look for it.”

“Is that true?” Isabella said, turning to Millie. Millie reckoned she’d earned that—she had become the go-to ‘voice’ for the Forums, at least as far as her classmates were concerned.

“She’s got the right of it,” Millie said. “People are crawling across every inch of the Academy for the Seeds and no one’s reported anything on it. We can likely rule out the other Factions sitting on it in secret as there are folk who must’ve gained abilities to watch and track from a distance because they’re selling out the other Faction’s every movement any chance they get.”

“It's not like those slaving fucks have made any friends,” Isabella said with a scoff.

“Ain’t that the truth,” Millie said, before turning back to the group. “So if Materia and Ataxia are out, that leaves Primus, Aether, Entropia, and Psyche. If I recall, all of you were looking into those, right? So I take it that's what the plan will revolve around?”

“While I know I agreed to the plan,” CJ said, “I feel like I should point out that it's usually considered a terrible idea to split the party.”

“You came up with the plan, cutie,” Isabella said. “And we don’t have much choice. Our enemies are split up too, and we don’t have any easy options that we can all focus on. We just have to hope we can slip in and snatch the prizes out from under them.”

That or bloody their noses a little, Millie thought.

“What has everyone found?” Millie asked. “We should start by going over that, I think.”

Isabella nodded in agreement. “I was able to track down the Gift of Primus. Like the hints said, an Oni was hidden in the city and has been challenging students to contests of strength, ones of their choosing. No one realized he was offering more than another hidden reward—but now the Gold Factions got the entire place blocked off.”

Millie grimaced, noting the tense worry on some of the other’s faces. It was terrifying to send one of their own out so brazenly in the Academy in its current state, but Isabella’s Attainment gave her one of the greatest defenses.

“Do you have any plan for how to succeed at that challenge?” Raj asked.

“Honestly?” Isabella scowled, shaking her head. “Not really. Everyone who hasn’t won a Gift, Seed or otherwise, gets one shot and can choose the contest they want. So far though, that thing has overpowered everyone who’s tried and the Golden Girl is sitting on the Oni as they try to find a way to beat it. If nothing else, I figure if I can get my brother and I there we can keep them locked down with my Attainment. Wait until Millie can get us an answer and then we’ll at least try.”

Raj nodded, before absently tapping the map on the table. “I suppose that’s the best we can hope for there. Especially if Millie can get a hint?”

He looked up hopefully at her—they all did. She remained the one card they had up their collective sleeves, so she understood. She just didn’t know if she’d be able to get them what they wanted.

“Now that I’ve got a bigger Mana pool and stronger soul, I should be able to use the Crystal Ball. With it, I can attempt stronger divination Spells, so if there’s something I can get you, I will. Did we get that last set of speaking stones?”

“We did,” Isabella agreed, pulling a set out and sliding one of the pair to Millie. The display of the Academy distorted as the stone rolled through it, and Millie caught the piece. “We also got a few other items, potions, and bits of gear. As much as we could afford with the small payment the others are making to take shelter here.”

“I still don’t know if charging others was the right thing to do,” Katelyn said. “They need a place to feel safe in.”

Isabella shrugged. “I get that, but you have to remember two things. First, we really need some RP, not just for ourselves but to help protect them.” She paused, pointing at a new earring she wore. “Insurance, you know? We’ve got to keep one step ahead of the others where we can. Secondly though, do you really think people would trust us if we offered free space, no strings attached?”

“Why wouldn’t they?” Catherine asked from the side. She was still pacing.

“Because,” Isabella answered, shaking her head, “the other Factions have already offered ‘no strings attached’ only to be proven lying sacks of shit. We have to charge something, or people will think we’re up to something. If they think all we want from them is resources, and nothing else, they’re more likely to choose us since we still cost a hell of a lot less than a residence.”

“What about the people that can’t afford it?” Braylon asked. He leaned forward, a deep frown on his wide face.

Isabella hesitated, before shrugging again. “We can’t save everyone. We just do what we can.”

Braylon sighed, sitting back. He got an understanding look from Katelyn before Raj cleared his throat.

“Speaking of doing what we can—what’s the status of the Archive? Did you find Seeds in there?”

“Well,” Katelyn said, glancing back at Catherine who paused in her pacing, only to wring her pale hands as the two had a silent exchange. Eventually, Katelyn turned to the group. “We’re pretty sure that both Psyche and Entropia are in the Archives. One above, the other below.”

Raj narrowed his eyes in sudden confusion. “What floors?”

“If I had to guess?” Katelyn said. “The Tenth floors. The robots told us we couldn’t access them, so we hadn’t pushed to reach them before. It seems likely that was a lie just to delay us finding the trials. Why? You look troubled, Raj.”

“It’s nothing,” he said quickly. The tall girl arched an eyebrow at him imperiously, and Raj sighed as he glanced around. “Fine. It's the Undercroft. The Obelisk hint mentioned it for Entropia.”

“Yes? Is there something special about that term?” She asked.

“It's the name for the lower section of the Academy,” he said. “Not for the Archives or Collections. One of the servitors used the term.”

“Was it Bonnie?” CJ asked, Raj shooting him a surprised glance.

“Bonnie?” Millie repeated. Then it clicked. “Oh, did you name the servitor in the Admin building we took shelter in?” Millie recalled her wearing an old-timey bonnet.

Raj looked embarrassed but nodded. “I’ve frequented the place, trying to find an entrance to the Undercroft.”

“What makes you think there’s one there?” Katelyn asked.

He gave her a long look, before casting his eyes down to the map. “I’ve been to several of their hidden industrial areas, and only a few have servitors guarding them. What do you think that means?”

Katelyn pursed her lips. “A hidden feature, of some kind.”

He nodded. “They’re shipping goods through some means, and we’ve already seen if they can use a magically cheap, simple method they will. Besides, I heard her use the term to describe what was below, and I know she’s been going back and forth. She’s not always there when I explore the place but she’ll always arrive in a hurry to meet me. Rushing, running from somewhere.”

Isabella tapped the table lightly. She looked as confused as Raj had. “I don’t get it then. Why would the trial be in the Archive Collections if the Undercroft is under the Academy? Is the hint deliberately misleading? Or is the word being used twice?”

“What if it's neither?” CJ offered, and the group turned to look at him in bewilderment. “No, really—what if the trial in the Collections just connects to a part of the Undercroft? The Archives clearly warps space somehow, it couldn’t possibly fit otherwise, and we’ve seen a visible representation of the day-night cycle on the fourth floors. For all we know, the Collections could actually be in the Undercroft, and the Archive is just one way to access it.”

“And each floor of the Archives,” Raj speculated, “be it Stacks or Collections, could possibly be buildings or locations scattered around the Academy.”

“Exactly!” CJ said. “Why else have glass ceilings on floors that are supposed to go up or down?”

“If that’s the case,” Katelyn said, turning to Raj. “Then what’s your plan in accessing the Undercroft? I assume that's why you brought it up, Raj.”

“It is,” Raj agreed. “I have…personal reasons I want to look into it, whether we get a Seed gift or not.”

“It's going to be hard, competing against other students to get to the bottom of Collections,” Catherine said, stepping up to the table. “We’ve heard of several teams heading both directions. Several have already breached the upper floors of the Stacks and are getting close to where the trial will likely start.”

“If I recall,” Isabella said, “You bought access to the highest floor you’ve reached, right?”

The two girls exchanged glances briefly before Catherine spoke up. “We did. The highest point we got to is the eighth floor, though only Katelyn and I paid for access to a safe room.”

She looked at Millie guiltily, as though she were to blame for Millie’s choice to be conservative with her RP. Millie shot her a tired smile and shrug, however. It wasn’t her fault after all—Millie had taken it for granted that she could rely on Catherine to power through the gate puzzles guarding each floor while using her Attainment to quickly navigate the labyrinthine areas. In hindsight, ten RP seemed a small price to pay to quickly maneuver around, but once again, Millie just hadn’t seen this coming.

She really wished that would stop happening.

“Does that mean you can beat the groups climbing up then?” Isabella asked. An excited look in her eyes.

“If we go now,” Katelyn responded firmly. “I think we have a good shot at reaching the Seed of Psyche first. We…don’t really have that option for Collections.”

“But then…” Millie said, glancing at the muscled man. He looked up at her.

“I know,” he said. “I won’t be able to beat any team down to the bottom of Collections—I didn’t bother registering any safe room portals either. That’s why I won’t go that way.”

Millie furrowed her brow, before hissing in a breath. “That’s why you were asking about it. You’re hoping to finally find the entrance in the industrial building, aren’t you? And then come in sideways?”

“That’s the hope,” he agreed. “I just need to find a way to get through a door I can’t perceive.”

“Could Millie help with that?” Katelyn offered, looking over at Millie expectantly.

Millie shook her head. “I had a strong Sympathetic Link to follow to get into the Weaver’s Hall, and it was probably magically strengthened to lead me through. I don’t know how you’ll get past it, Raj, but good luck. If it works, your plan might just be the safest one we got.”

“It just might,” he said, smiling kindly. He still knocked on the table for good luck. Then, he turned back towards Braylon. “What about you two? Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

Braylon looked over towards the girl sitting next to him. A pale-faced Tanya breathed deeply.

“As far as we can tell,” Tanya said. “The race is on. Literally—people are racing down the corridors hoping to be the first to hit the distance required for the Aether Seed.”

“That’s after they tried fighting over the travel portals,” Braylon commented. “People have spent most of the day running through them, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to work.”

CJ snorted. “Why would it? Didn’t the hints say something about the journey, not the destination? Taking portals bypasses space—if it's really about a step count that’s just idiocy.”

Braylon just shrugged in response.

“Too bad we don’t know what the step count is,” Isabella muttered. “Even if we did, we don’t have a way to catch up.”

Tanya nodded, smiling in chagrin. “Yeah, I know. But Millie…didn’t you say you had an idea on that front?”

Millie started, snapping her fingers. “I did! Thank you for reminding me—one sec.”

Stepping away from the table, Millie grabbed a large sac she’d lugged in with her for the meeting and spilled out its contents. Wheels of various shapes and sizes, that had once connected to rolling tables, scattered about, disrupting the illusory image of the Academy.

Tanya picked one up, examining it as she suddenly paled. When she saw the smile on Millie’s face, she somehow got even paler.

“Millie…what is this?” She asked.

“You still need to get your Attainment, right?” Millie said. “I think I might have a suggestion or two.”

The petite girl let out a long-suffering sigh. “I should’ve seen this coming,” she said.

Millie just smiled wider.

----------------------------------------

‘Why am I doing this again?’ Tanya asked, courage gone as she stood on shaky legs which kept trying to fly out from under her.

‘Because you need to get exercise, girl,’ Millie told her. ‘Besides, rollerblading isn’t that dangerous. Don’t you want to see the world, before…well, never mind. Come on!’

Before I die? Tanya thought, an old memory bubbling up as she walked into the Stacks. The large presence of Braylon beside her was reassuring, and even Catherine and Katelyn had come with them, if only for a moment. They had their own race to get to though.

“So…do you actually know how to roller skate?” Katelyn asked. She’d been highly skeptical of Millie’s plan but was trying to be supportive.

The sound of children laughing in a park. The smell of spring on a breeze, her arms flailing as she picked up speed. The joy in her heart at moving, at going. At living for the first time in her life.

Then crashing into a bush.

“A bit,” Tanya admitted. “Hopefully I can get an Attainment to…ah, help with being rusty.”

“I’m sure it’ll be like riding a bike,” Braylon offered. He gave her a wide smile, one she only half returned as nerves made her tremble. She was worried for him—if their plan worked he’d be the one most in danger. He would be her protector.

I’m not so weak either, she reminded herself. She hadn’t gained as much as Millie had, but even Tanya’s Attributes had risen considerably. She was nearly as fit as a professional athlete, and all it had taken was two potions and a bit of…torture. Torture she gladly bared for what it got her.

Approaching Saras and the Attainment counter, Tanya and Braylon bid farewell to the other girls as they parted. Stepping up, Tanya cleared her throat trying, and failing, to steady herself.

“Ah, Initiate Griffith, yes?” Saras said, bowing slightly. Tanya bowed deeply in return.

“Greetings, Great Spirit Saras.”

The Spirit smiled appreciatively. “Well met, Initiate. How may I be of service?”

Tanya swallowed, hoping not for the dozenth time that Millie’s crazy plan was going to work.

“I, ah, need an Attainment. Something that can help me win a race. Something…sparrow related?”

The Great Spirit cocked her head in confusion, before smiling in delight.

“Oh my. I may have the perfect thing for you, little one.”