**Thank you for reading my novel. If you enjoyed the story, please give it a like and leave a comment — your support really encourages me to keep writing and sharing more chapters.**83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbng5iWpANC
The First Energy Crystal
Leaving the Abbas Archive proved more difficult than83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIXhv5P1mj
entering it.
Which was, Zorina supposed, only fair. Ancient impossible83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRj95Lgx4YY
civilisations were rarely considerate enough to provide clearly marked exits,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1KRweJuRq
emergency lighting, and a polite notice reading: This way back to your83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQK3lvMXVfZ
previous understanding of reality.
She stood beneath the great column of light, with83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6hGwdEEy7
Crystal-Pattern Panel 1011 hovering at her side.
She had not taken it with her.
Not exactly.
Yet she knew, without knowing how, that it would return to83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxIO3GSlrB
its place when she no longer needed it, and come back to her hand when she did.
The thought was absurd enough to belong in a fairy tale.
But inside the Archive, absurdity seemed less like fantasy83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5cQpaLNP6
and more like a word humanity had invented for knowledge it had failed to83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXlhQpSIRA
catch.
Zorina walked towards the flower-shaped biological energy83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqAOeXoAz4X
device.
The six transparent crystal petals sensed her approach and83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP4B4LxjGJS
opened slowly. The reclining platform at their centre shimmered with a83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDCKfcTnY6u
pale-blue film of light, like water trying to remember how to be skin.
She did not lie down at once.
She was an analyst, not a worshipper of expensive miracles.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmHF9Mr7KI7
Even when one finds oneself inside a volcanic archive that recognises one’s83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaj7JHKO9tz
blood and opens ancient doors in one’s honour, a certain professional suspicion83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8j86eCRvmU
remains healthy. Faith, after all, was merely ignorance wearing ceremonial83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8NV0Ak7Em5
clothing.
She rolled up the torn sleeve of her damaged flight suit and83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3x2K9T70n0
exposed her arm.
Bruises. Abrasions. Dried blood. A shallow split across the83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ixNSL51AT
skin. The small, unattractive documentation of survival.
She reached out and touched one of the crystal petals.
The device awakened.
[Lifeform scan.]
[Human body.]
[Injuries detected: mild impact trauma; epidermal laceration;83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsD2VAtLqZn
inflammatory response; residual analgesic compounds in bloodstream; accumulated83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡziVW5NPDac
fatigue toxins.]
[Convertible waste biomass: low quantity.]
[Activate low-level medical conversion?]
Zorina studied the words.
“Activate.”
She had no idea whether that was the correct command.
Apparently, the device was more forgiving than most official83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAHR8XtmG1
systems. It responded immediately, which placed it already above half the83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXBIAsWZIa
departments in Britain.
From within the petals, countless blue filaments emerged,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQlW8KP0tu
fine as hair. They did not pierce her skin. They passed through its surface83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFt0WhHrsx9
like light through shallow water, distinguishing with impossible delicacy83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpt6QlLFnt
between what belonged to her body and what no longer deserved residency.
Zorina’s arm tingled.
The swelling around the wounds receded at a visible speed.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ26AUKXStMI
Redness faded. Dried blood cracked and lifted away. Beneath it, new skin83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3MtjZDO0sN
formed, smooth and faintly luminous for one brief second before settling into83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoxZ9ZoWuvm
ordinary flesh.
She stared.
High-tier medicine in 3911 could perform rapid repair. Of83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUOVBKgVnHI
course it could. With enough energy, nanomaterial, authorisation, medical debt,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQyw3ytUqI
and institutional permission, the ruling classes had achieved wonders. A First83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ojLMFOUVV
Tier minister could have an injured liver mended before lunch and complain83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAodSdTehnn
about the inconvenience of the appointment by dinner.
A Fifth Tier child could die of infected water beside a dark83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkjnRR1Oyx
purification station.
Civilisation, as ever, was less a question of possibility83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFLPThdFJx
than of who was allowed to benefit from it.
But this device was doing something different.
It was not consuming vast external power.
It was using the biological waste within her body to feed83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSpmonSrHR
the repair.
The centre of the flower condensed a tiny pale-blue crystal.
It was smaller than a grain of rice.
[Conversion complete.]
[Low-grade energy crystal: 0.003 units.]
The amount was negligible.
Ridiculous, almost.
A number so small that any respectable administrator would83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfZsq876N4
have buried it beneath twelve paragraphs of discouraging language and an83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqz9kLzbb4v
encouraging note about future review.
Yet Zorina stared at the little crystal as if she had just83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE53Z3d43s0
seen a city relight itself.
Not because it was large.
Because it proved that the impossible had quantity.
And once the impossible had quantity, it could be measured.
Once it could be measured, it could be repeated.
Once it could be repeated, it became policy’s worst83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiUYEmTqVDg
nightmare: a fact.
Her mind moved at once to the First Tier.
To those polished old men and beautifully maintained women83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsn5OOPkXUh
who ate too much, drank too much, took gene-stabilising therapies, anti-ageing83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ061S2DeGPL
injections, cellular rejuvenation compounds, and private metabolic treatments83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsiSwORPIhV
with the wounded dignity of people forced to remain alive in considerable83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNhv3nifg5
comfort.
Their bodies accumulated excess fat, metabolic residue,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2PbMpXfwmg
decayed cells, drug residues, ageing tissue, corrupted proteins, minor lesions,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kw2tIX07S
and all the waste that privilege politely renamed maintenance.
If one injured ordinary person could produce 0.003 units,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvDKjn6izct
then what might be harvested from the overfed, over-treated, chemically83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJVghp8sst
preserved bodies of the elite?
Their excess could become someone else’s light.
The irony was almost beautiful.
Which was inconvenient, because beautiful ironies had a83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfVzXBYvry
habit of becoming dangerous.
Zorina lifted the energy crystal from the device.
It rested in her palm, faintly warm.
At once, the golden patterns on the floor lit and extended83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjL3kAUMtx8
towards the far side of the cavern.
They were pointing.
There stood a small platform.
Zorina walked to it. The platform was empty, smooth, and83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfBf8kKwEb
black, with a shallow circular depression at its centre. She placed the tiny83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OcAogaY0i
crystal upon it.
Silver rings materialised above the platform.
The air stirred.
Minute particles gathered in the empty space, first as dust,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzAcEYnrG4
then as mist, then as a surface. The shape thinned and flattened, edges83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsIgjh9Rg8
refining themselves with silent precision until a small, tablet-like object83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJD8Anw38UB
formed in the air.
It resembled an old-world communication device.
Only simpler.
Cleaner.
As if design, after centuries of human committee meetings,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDtrBUS06YF
had finally been allowed to recover.
[Low-level communication interface generated.]
[Warning: external world communication networks are under regime83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvEBRWzlYI
surveillance. Low-frequency hopping recommended.]
Zorina’s pulse quickened.
The Archive could do more than heal.
It could make.
Energy into matter.
Atomic reconstruction.
The meaning struck her with enough force that she went83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiUUFyVA2i
still.
Crystal-Pattern Panel 1011 was not a discovery.
It was a keyhole.
This civilisation had not preserved a single technique. It83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdNNN3rco1
had preserved an entire hierarchy of tools beyond Earth’s present level. If83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjGRV1zfkF
even a portion of them could be awakened, the order built upon energy scarcity83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqamqebZANS
would not merely be challenged.
It would be made ridiculous.
And few things enraged power more than being made83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNk4KQNPNRy
ridiculous.
Zorina picked up the communication interface.
Its surface brightened.
[Please specify contact.]
She remained silent for several seconds.
She did not contact Atlas.
Not because she distrusted him.
Precisely because she trusted him.
Atlas was inside the Energy Quota Authority. He would be83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡajyVbIChmK
watched, especially now. Any abnormal communication would push him straight83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksl31PhBLK
into the Bureau’s line of fire, and the Bureau had never been famous for83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQkNVTq1rr
missing when shooting at inconvenient loyalty.
Robin Shen was different.
Robin Shen had been raised in fire and taught to call it83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rJMzhaquQ
central heating.
She entered a private code she had not used in years.
Long ago, when they were still children, Robin had turned83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4YUHcLqyWC
that sequence into a secret game between them. He had told her that if the83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCksUrzLQg
world ever became too loud, she could use it to find him.
At the time, neither of them had known that the world would83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFghmOQUEIN
eventually become quite so deafening.
The interface flickered.
Once.
Twice.
On the third pulse, a lazy male voice drifted through.
“If this is not a scam, I should first clarify that I am not83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Qd5X062Bx
currently buying insurance, investing in Martian cemetery plots, or fostering83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmWe2bCRjw
any former girlfriend’s cat.”
Zorina closed her eyes.
“Robin.”
Silence.
Five full seconds.
Then every trace of theatrical laziness vanished from his83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IkuWpRBBp
voice.
“Zori?”
She did not waste time on greeting.
“I need your help.”
Robin Shen did not ask where she was.
He did not ask why she was using a strange channel.
He did not ask what trouble she had created, fallen into,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMixqaJuMH
offended, awakened, or possibly inherited from a prior civilisation.
He asked only, “Money, identity, flight corridor, or a83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePShYT1rGv
corpse?”
Zorina looked around the impossible Archive.
“Possibly all of them.”
Robin drew a soft breath.
“Well. You have finally decided to be interesting.”
“I found something.”
“Dangerous?”
“Enough to change the world.”
“Interesting…”
She looked down at the tiny blue crystal in her palm.
“I can make energy.”
This time, the silence on the other end became absolute.
When Robin spoke again, his voice was lower.
“Do you understand that if any regime hears that sentence,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfa21zaYMm8
you cease to be a person and become an asset?”
“That is why I called you.”
“Where are you?”
Zorina glanced at the external position displayed on the83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQeyzT46RD5
interface.
“Tristan da Cunha.”
Robin said something very softly and extremely unsuitable83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkoTV2uAYzl
for polite company.
Then, in English, with exquisite irritation:
“Brilliant. And what, precisely, happened to South Africa?”
“The capsule went off course.”
“Sabotage?”
“Possibly. But I don’t think they succeeded in making me83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4juwbrgiZS
fall.”
“What does that mean?”
Zorina looked towards the great column of light.
“I think the island caught me.”
Robin did not laugh.
That was the thing about him.
The frivolous heir, the decorative wastrel, the charming83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcDQVUPGu6
embarrassment at expensive dinners — all of that could deceive society pages,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnFS3jHdn6
family enemies, and women who mistook cynicism for intelligence. But before83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsy90U5ZZmu
real danger, Robin never wasted time denying information merely because it83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQPuoyNXyN
sounded deranged.
It was one of his few genuinely civilised qualities.
“Stay where you are,” he said. “I’ll arrange a rescue line.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkowiGftQiV
It cannot be official. The most important thing is that Britain must not define83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUBNlzcVto
you first.”
“Define me?”
“Missing. Defector. Dead. Traitor. Asset under protective83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BurNoNeli
custody. Choose any unpleasant noun and place it in a white folder. That is how83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡieX6VT1p4s
governments perform sorcery.”
“I don’t only need extraction.”
“Well?”
Zorina lifted her eyes to the chamber that had slept beneath83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3PVoqj9oQ
the volcano for longer than human empire had known how to flatter itself.
For the first time, her ambition became clear.
Not anger.
Not survival.
Not even justice.
A structure.
A plan.
A direction.
“I need the island.”
There was a pause on the other end.
Then Robin laughed.
Not lightly.
Not foolishly.
It was the laugh of a gambler who had just seen, at last,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJXZXIDQG0
one card on the table capable of frightening the house.
“Perfect,” he said softly. “Then we shall have a civilised83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvMG9ZUU0e
conversation with Britain.”
Zorina looked down at the first energy crystal.
Small.
Blue.
Almost nothing.
A seed of light resting in her palm.
Above her, the Archive breathed in silence.
And somewhere beyond the stone, the old world continued83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBwifgF68w
congratulating itself on being permanent.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGxQ0tHmqR
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZV3kZgfHp
**Thank you for reading my novel. If you enjoyed the story, please give it a like and leave a comment — your support really encourages me to keep writing and sharing more chapters.**
and then Add to home screen.