**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.**70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMplqrIECZw
The First Energy Crystal
Leaving the Abbas Archive proved more difficult than70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiU39FYj76c
entering it.
Which was, Zorina supposed, only fair. Ancient impossible70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjy1XYL8Z0C
civilisations were rarely considerate enough to provide clearly marked exits,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Gbg17hRRb
emergency lighting, and a polite notice reading: This way back to your70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgnLzbbWKsb
previous understanding of reality.
She stood beneath the great column of light, with70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5exPwKwmco
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 to70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrG4fQep9Oa
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 fantasy70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5fXDwmO0b7
and more like a word humanity had invented for knowledge it had failed to70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQZYpYE5my
catch.
Zorina walked towards the flower-shaped biological energy70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoeCfhbMhOz
device.
The six transparent crystal petals sensed her approach and70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3wsi6PPCc
opened slowly. The reclining platform at their centre shimmered with a70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡko6GwTfEo9
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.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94KXZpLfoJ
Even when one finds oneself inside a volcanic archive that recognises one’s70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCI3tnmXRj8
blood and opens ancient doors in one’s honour, a certain professional suspicion70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQA5XH8oeFm
remains healthy. Faith, after all, was merely ignorance wearing ceremonial70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUB34noP6wd
clothing.
She rolled up the torn sleeve of her damaged flight suit and70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtPMWAbkuG3
exposed her arm.
Bruises. Abrasions. Dried blood. A shallow split across the70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2u5aT99Exi
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;70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1PfoB88qSZ
inflammatory response; residual analgesic compounds in bloodstream; accumulated70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHOxJsL3ftA
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 official70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNzSWqVt6R
systems. It responded immediately, which placed it already above half the70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcvOk6Y8giO
departments in Britain.
From within the petals, countless blue filaments emerged,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxhT96iqbjy
fine as hair. They did not pierce her skin. They passed through its surface70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzTBEiUgaqp
like light through shallow water, distinguishing with impossible delicacy70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHfx1MWH8D
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.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUH9xyEDLAL
Redness faded. Dried blood cracked and lifted away. Beneath it, new skin70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfi5diBMAx2
formed, smooth and faintly luminous for one brief second before settling into70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9gJS31wsT
ordinary flesh.
She stared.
High-tier medicine in 3911 could perform rapid repair. Of70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZLwaNE86D
course it could. With enough energy, nanomaterial, authorisation, medical debt,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjzGkgD0IZc
and institutional permission, the ruling classes had achieved wonders. A First70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlpcsO4QHS
Tier minister could have an injured liver mended before lunch and complain70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMf844lWtx6
about the inconvenience of the appointment by dinner.
A Fifth Tier child could die of infected water beside a dark70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAkOVanXm52
purification station.
Civilisation, as ever, was less a question of possibility70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡswBe74GmLX
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 feed70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZHRkjQPuqT
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 would70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2aBhezTUHX
have buried it beneath twelve paragraphs of discouraging language and an70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpFCqit0gk
encouraging note about future review.
Yet Zorina stared at the little crystal as if she had just70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0loqIiVZD
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 worst70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSRUsSdnEi
nightmare: a fact.
Her mind moved at once to the First Tier.
To those polished old men and beautifully maintained women70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSV7OZWm38
who ate too much, drank too much, took gene-stabilising therapies, anti-ageing70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7QDDOU62O
injections, cellular rejuvenation compounds, and private metabolic treatments70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93WdFVpkl9
with the wounded dignity of people forced to remain alive in considerable70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaimbporrwz
comfort.
Their bodies accumulated excess fat, metabolic residue,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2CMmtYWr0b
decayed cells, drug residues, ageing tissue, corrupted proteins, minor lesions,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyJoppfMXx
and all the waste that privilege politely renamed maintenance.
If one injured ordinary person could produce 0.003 units,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuk99hrW0kO
then what might be harvested from the overfed, over-treated, chemically70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLEdQbRIyF
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 a70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhC3BzoQfg
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 extended70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwrB1Brfq5I
towards the far side of the cavern.
They were pointing.
There stood a small platform.
Zorina walked to it. The platform was empty, smooth, and70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDObP5NY3zS
black, with a shallow circular depression at its centre. She placed the tiny70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQeR7lZIcT
crystal upon it.
Silver rings materialised above the platform.
The air stirred.
Minute particles gathered in the empty space, first as dust,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Gf8K4ml9t
then as mist, then as a surface. The shape thinned and flattened, edges70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIME9HfSqc
refining themselves with silent precision until a small, tablet-like object70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcAh8B22Z8
formed in the air.
It resembled an old-world communication device.
Only simpler.
Cleaner.
As if design, after centuries of human committee meetings,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmN8PqbnVdH
had finally been allowed to recover.
[Low-level communication interface generated.]
[Warning: external world communication networks are under regime70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkEJn7ypedb
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 went70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRNe8bGVS14
still.
Crystal-Pattern Panel 1011 was not a discovery.
It was a keyhole.
This civilisation had not preserved a single technique. It70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwqXmzZ9ax
had preserved an entire hierarchy of tools beyond Earth’s present level. If70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7rgsMUW2X
even a portion of them could be awakened, the order built upon energy scarcity70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwW2OQjGBj1
would not merely be challenged.
It would be made ridiculous.
And few things enraged power more than being made70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAnA8NSYwua
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 be70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLyFQByEviH
watched, especially now. Any abnormal communication would push him straight70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTsag7Vpeb
into the Bureau’s line of fire, and the Bureau had never been famous for70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKOWxkKX27c
missing when shooting at inconvenient loyalty.
Robin Shen was different.
Robin Shen had been raised in fire and taught to call it70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZgXsJWQiP
central heating.
She entered a private code she had not used in years.
Long ago, when they were still children, Robin had turned70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5BWUGay75P
that sequence into a secret game between them. He had told her that if the70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0nfE1N8QBt
world ever became too loud, she could use it to find him.
At the time, neither of them had known that the world would70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsDjSEhDcDn
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 not70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQj3cC2hj1N
currently buying insurance, investing in Martian cemetery plots, or fostering70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJ8nwRphod
any former girlfriend’s cat.”
Zorina closed her eyes.
“Robin.”
Silence.
Five full seconds.
Then every trace of theatrical laziness vanished from his70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyEtzcf2yW
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,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XwmHsuliO
offended, awakened, or possibly inherited from a prior civilisation.
He asked only, “Money, identity, flight corridor, or a70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhXTwaBi79
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,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCO0k9nkEc0
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 the70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFJeJ5PGT8
interface.
“Tristan da Cunha.”
Robin said something very softly and extremely unsuitable70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRa6mRokhE
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 me70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlSOFry6QKP
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 charming70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpsCB9GbNPm
embarrassment at expensive dinners — all of that could deceive society pages,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzolXx3gvpu
family enemies, and women who mistook cynicism for intelligence. But before70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcPgyRHUVL
real danger, Robin never wasted time denying information merely because it70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOQPWfsMXV
sounded deranged.
It was one of his few genuinely civilised qualities.
“Stay where you are,” he said. “I’ll arrange a rescue line.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡankgP2G4gR
It cannot be official. The most important thing is that Britain must not define70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tJJKPXggM
you first.”
“Define me?”
“Missing. Defector. Dead. Traitor. Asset under protective70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡceOOx1V9Cn
custody. Choose any unpleasant noun and place it in a white folder. That is how70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpa5Pu5tEJ
governments perform sorcery.”
“I don’t only need extraction.”
“Well?”
Zorina lifted her eyes to the chamber that had slept beneath70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQQOCm3MFF
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,70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwWTuXkHrvi
one card on the table capable of frightening the house.
“Perfect,” he said softly. “Then we shall have a civilised70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ6XXEkAPWh
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 continued70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9IYTgZU2O
congratulating itself on being permanent.
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjSYf1SCTxl
70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6GEEVMgyl
**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.