**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.**67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxlEUwnoaF
The First Energy Crystal
Leaving the Abbas Archive proved more difficult than67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡweNLLs3DH0
entering it.
Which was, Zorina supposed, only fair. Ancient impossible67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfvhXOpFfB
civilisations were rarely considerate enough to provide clearly marked exits,67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc446wuFKLU
emergency lighting, and a polite notice reading: This way back to your67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgrvszxgpm7
previous understanding of reality.
She stood beneath the great column of light, with67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXa61H0EEv7
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 to67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuLmW1V9Cvu
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 fantasy67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR4tZ3FWaI8
and more like a word humanity had invented for knowledge it had failed to67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lzwtvdJrP
catch.
Zorina walked towards the flower-shaped biological energy67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb906BaZ1EZ
device.
The six transparent crystal petals sensed her approach and67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGT7FKo4nOx
opened slowly. The reclining platform at their centre shimmered with a67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstzd4f7egd
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.67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1R8ZPeZ7JC
Even when one finds oneself inside a volcanic archive that recognises one’s67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2OqKc1xTzw
blood and opens ancient doors in one’s honour, a certain professional suspicion67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTf3m555jt5
remains healthy. Faith, after all, was merely ignorance wearing ceremonial67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0asTgFLnOT
clothing.
She rolled up the torn sleeve of her damaged flight suit and67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdOdI9qQD3U
exposed her arm.
Bruises. Abrasions. Dried blood. A shallow split across the67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQHoJVv9m4
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;67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1a1IoqD68n
inflammatory response; residual analgesic compounds in bloodstream; accumulated67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNocy9xtWC1
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 official67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsy96jblP6W
systems. It responded immediately, which placed it already above half the67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoet4x6ZJxE
departments in Britain.
From within the petals, countless blue filaments emerged,67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMucfxrcYU
fine as hair. They did not pierce her skin. They passed through its surface67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVt7cZxry12
like light through shallow water, distinguishing with impossible delicacy67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKv9LiLV60A
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.67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6CXuI2NK2
Redness faded. Dried blood cracked and lifted away. Beneath it, new skin67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNwFJhT9cKv
formed, smooth and faintly luminous for one brief second before settling into67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcj7kd54Nmj
ordinary flesh.
She stared.
High-tier medicine in 3911 could perform rapid repair. Of67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9LfpIy5mw
course it could. With enough energy, nanomaterial, authorisation, medical debt,67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZSBry2zBO
and institutional permission, the ruling classes had achieved wonders. A First67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBc3Kdj9QkI
Tier minister could have an injured liver mended before lunch and complain67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ148iPNHDE1
about the inconvenience of the appointment by dinner.
A Fifth Tier child could die of infected water beside a dark67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgEY7GERem
purification station.
Civilisation, as ever, was less a question of possibility67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsaODq4peQd
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 feed67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWcuP8dSUI
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 would67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnSbn30eRGZ
have buried it beneath twelve paragraphs of discouraging language and an67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkzdbhL3MU
encouraging note about future review.
Yet Zorina stared at the little crystal as if she had just67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt2SxU94m9T
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 worst67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFvnTHH07Q
nightmare: a fact.
Her mind moved at once to the First Tier.
To those polished old men and beautifully maintained women67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYW1lMcq5w
who ate too much, drank too much, took gene-stabilising therapies, anti-ageing67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfrnwRdQU42
injections, cellular rejuvenation compounds, and private metabolic treatments67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGk7c65SLAZ
with the wounded dignity of people forced to remain alive in considerable67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6tQwkK1xJu
comfort.
Their bodies accumulated excess fat, metabolic residue,67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXqQbsHrRZS
decayed cells, drug residues, ageing tissue, corrupted proteins, minor lesions,67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFn2qmRtyc
and all the waste that privilege politely renamed maintenance.
If one injured ordinary person could produce 0.003 units,67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiKJhefv6uh
then what might be harvested from the overfed, over-treated, chemically67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMnCjRpfWu
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 a67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12J1TFjBez
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 extended67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QQ4TnYo9B
towards the far side of the cavern.
They were pointing.
There stood a small platform.
Zorina walked to it. The platform was empty, smooth, and67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOR2xTUptN
black, with a shallow circular depression at its centre. She placed the tiny67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzHOPAhErL
crystal upon it.
Silver rings materialised above the platform.
The air stirred.
Minute particles gathered in the empty space, first as dust,67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7seY9ugO7
then as mist, then as a surface. The shape thinned and flattened, edges67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOfTbYOEV7N
refining themselves with silent precision until a small, tablet-like object67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSw772Gm7yb
formed in the air.
It resembled an old-world communication device.
Only simpler.
Cleaner.
As if design, after centuries of human committee meetings,67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8o1xO9efbp
had finally been allowed to recover.
[Low-level communication interface generated.]
[Warning: external world communication networks are under regime67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hYdGj2IV5
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 went67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCxoQKOQFZ
still.
Crystal-Pattern Panel 1011 was not a discovery.
It was a keyhole.
This civilisation had not preserved a single technique. It67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Mz6SuVBtr
had preserved an entire hierarchy of tools beyond Earth’s present level. If67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLlNtAWSaDb
even a portion of them could be awakened, the order built upon energy scarcity67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJup62zO8L
would not merely be challenged.
It would be made ridiculous.
And few things enraged power more than being made67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4n1LvbzNKL
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 be67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1GVNk7edC
watched, especially now. Any abnormal communication would push him straight67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIzlqsc7He
into the Bureau’s line of fire, and the Bureau had never been famous for67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQfHYs4xg9M
missing when shooting at inconvenient loyalty.
Robin Shen was different.
Robin Shen had been raised in fire and taught to call it67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmqTmQDLDU
central heating.
She entered a private code she had not used in years.
Long ago, when they were still children, Robin had turned67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtoFqOueCyP
that sequence into a secret game between them. He had told her that if the67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyXBWTusop
world ever became too loud, she could use it to find him.
At the time, neither of them had known that the world would67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLnqr18owtr
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 not67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblyE9ogrok
currently buying insurance, investing in Martian cemetery plots, or fostering67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTdO9MqvHc9
any former girlfriend’s cat.”
Zorina closed her eyes.
“Robin.”
Silence.
Five full seconds.
Then every trace of theatrical laziness vanished from his67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHhX7VOpBS
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,67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJifOI96FAf
offended, awakened, or possibly inherited from a prior civilisation.
He asked only, “Money, identity, flight corridor, or a67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLQ8pLcEhD6
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,67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJscqWxFc0
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 the67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30SiYVsfsi
interface.
“Tristan da Cunha.”
Robin said something very softly and extremely unsuitable67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZwitxJv98
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 me67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoqoigERHef
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 charming67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmlxbovotYD
embarrassment at expensive dinners — all of that could deceive society pages,67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJC2li0uLAI
family enemies, and women who mistook cynicism for intelligence. But before67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUnn32nNatz
real danger, Robin never wasted time denying information merely because it67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmUXNhfQa7
sounded deranged.
It was one of his few genuinely civilised qualities.
“Stay where you are,” he said. “I’ll arrange a rescue line.67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdUzQ5UTKul
It cannot be official. The most important thing is that Britain must not define67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzzL3rWPlzF
you first.”
“Define me?”
“Missing. Defector. Dead. Traitor. Asset under protective67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMNcwkTVkfr
custody. Choose any unpleasant noun and place it in a white folder. That is how67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj8Kz2OfjKd
governments perform sorcery.”
“I don’t only need extraction.”
“Well?”
Zorina lifted her eyes to the chamber that had slept beneath67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBxbO4X88h
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,67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeNUUOshUQI
one card on the table capable of frightening the house.
“Perfect,” he said softly. “Then we shall have a civilised67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0wwb3wMHt
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 continued67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnDdCNDhuc
congratulating itself on being permanent.
67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpsnDZbVri5
67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5mFOVU4Q71
**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.**
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