**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.**63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygqdQPpf7I
The First Energy Crystal
Leaving the Abbas Archive proved more difficult than63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDs9T8hIpgk
entering it.
Which was, Zorina supposed, only fair. Ancient impossible63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5dlS7Sq9Ft
civilisations were rarely considerate enough to provide clearly marked exits,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQwkkWpJff
emergency lighting, and a polite notice reading: This way back to your63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk8JmewhxFJ
previous understanding of reality.
She stood beneath the great column of light, with63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlEMJbQImlp
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 to63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvbtZtE0Rr
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 fantasy63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡursKRGpln5
and more like a word humanity had invented for knowledge it had failed to63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mwCZSNj3p
catch.
Zorina walked towards the flower-shaped biological energy63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8h2HXWd6ey
device.
The six transparent crystal petals sensed her approach and63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfrP9w0jexE
opened slowly. The reclining platform at their centre shimmered with a63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYaxzsIkAA
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNAoBK4HeUn
Even when one finds oneself inside a volcanic archive that recognises one’s63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkX648dgVJ
blood and opens ancient doors in one’s honour, a certain professional suspicion63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7a9FEKoK61
remains healthy. Faith, after all, was merely ignorance wearing ceremonial63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNidpGV6q5L
clothing.
She rolled up the torn sleeve of her damaged flight suit and63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1tWRNaIs5e
exposed her arm.
Bruises. Abrasions. Dried blood. A shallow split across the63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQ7m0jE4yk
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;63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfj1dPiPkV8
inflammatory response; residual analgesic compounds in bloodstream; accumulated63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCNaJum1p4
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 official63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeVKNWgKksV
systems. It responded immediately, which placed it already above half the63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYeLIHxkl7g
departments in Britain.
From within the petals, countless blue filaments emerged,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYAzil9K1n
fine as hair. They did not pierce her skin. They passed through its surface63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6xDZcQQ3t
like light through shallow water, distinguishing with impossible delicacy63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAR16LaionZ
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiVrMf6fZYB
Redness faded. Dried blood cracked and lifted away. Beneath it, new skin63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJYaHYpTSf
formed, smooth and faintly luminous for one brief second before settling into63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPhmEYQcaZt
ordinary flesh.
She stared.
High-tier medicine in 3911 could perform rapid repair. Of63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6vNXhT6Bv
course it could. With enough energy, nanomaterial, authorisation, medical debt,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj8GyRCyj0R
and institutional permission, the ruling classes had achieved wonders. A First63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNxwpnhbzpo
Tier minister could have an injured liver mended before lunch and complain63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyyuYOkUsLf
about the inconvenience of the appointment by dinner.
A Fifth Tier child could die of infected water beside a dark63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKWKtUbpUei
purification station.
Civilisation, as ever, was less a question of possibility63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuz5dpM7pr5
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 feed63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChGZqz8OqN
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 would63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX809lGmZpm
have buried it beneath twelve paragraphs of discouraging language and an63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoENdXutpU
encouraging note about future review.
Yet Zorina stared at the little crystal as if she had just63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcM8lM8SX1Q
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 worst63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡswIM4jni8o
nightmare: a fact.
Her mind moved at once to the First Tier.
To those polished old men and beautifully maintained women63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDyQh85RPiQ
who ate too much, drank too much, took gene-stabilising therapies, anti-ageing63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQeSEOrkOY
injections, cellular rejuvenation compounds, and private metabolic treatments63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA007Q9nmUi
with the wounded dignity of people forced to remain alive in considerable63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JcSyPQr3l
comfort.
Their bodies accumulated excess fat, metabolic residue,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGJottD73X
decayed cells, drug residues, ageing tissue, corrupted proteins, minor lesions,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4d4u8jWqdc
and all the waste that privilege politely renamed maintenance.
If one injured ordinary person could produce 0.003 units,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJ7v4dbdW1
then what might be harvested from the overfed, over-treated, chemically63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNk19FuJDjM
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 a63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmZVRlnB2a
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 extended63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOREy15al0t
towards the far side of the cavern.
They were pointing.
There stood a small platform.
Zorina walked to it. The platform was empty, smooth, and63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTodlzg5WX
black, with a shallow circular depression at its centre. She placed the tiny63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxEDtFYkIPq
crystal upon it.
Silver rings materialised above the platform.
The air stirred.
Minute particles gathered in the empty space, first as dust,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCrTDMs0a1G
then as mist, then as a surface. The shape thinned and flattened, edges63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZjxQjhPYG
refining themselves with silent precision until a small, tablet-like object63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3DBYOGQ5ri
formed in the air.
It resembled an old-world communication device.
Only simpler.
Cleaner.
As if design, after centuries of human committee meetings,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB1lUsyyVH0
had finally been allowed to recover.
[Low-level communication interface generated.]
[Warning: external world communication networks are under regime63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2V2PgNTjb2
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 went63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQeSSZqVVN
still.
Crystal-Pattern Panel 1011 was not a discovery.
It was a keyhole.
This civilisation had not preserved a single technique. It63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMCq6iomSQ
had preserved an entire hierarchy of tools beyond Earth’s present level. If63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz24jlCAXuY
even a portion of them could be awakened, the order built upon energy scarcity63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25smAliWLB
would not merely be challenged.
It would be made ridiculous.
And few things enraged power more than being made63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxHzg6aM2Od
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 be63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxi2vIRycu
watched, especially now. Any abnormal communication would push him straight63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJeL9KnUDGr
into the Bureau’s line of fire, and the Bureau had never been famous for63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWHstfYKT26
missing when shooting at inconvenient loyalty.
Robin Shen was different.
Robin Shen had been raised in fire and taught to call it63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTVdumHlxp
central heating.
She entered a private code she had not used in years.
Long ago, when they were still children, Robin had turned63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kCuy0jKhG
that sequence into a secret game between them. He had told her that if the63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9897qMhuhA
world ever became too loud, she could use it to find him.
At the time, neither of them had known that the world would63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOE762v1Uzd
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 not63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9AFoMnc6XH
currently buying insurance, investing in Martian cemetery plots, or fostering63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZ5CkTO6no
any former girlfriend’s cat.”
Zorina closed her eyes.
“Robin.”
Silence.
Five full seconds.
Then every trace of theatrical laziness vanished from his63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllbTFGV1HM
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,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLeldoaj2L
offended, awakened, or possibly inherited from a prior civilisation.
He asked only, “Money, identity, flight corridor, or a63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf8ejlxwy9u
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,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkLhSe6NGjr
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 the63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡABsNoI703D
interface.
“Tristan da Cunha.”
Robin said something very softly and extremely unsuitable63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJknZY2RYSg
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 me63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZC9esCSCI7
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 charming63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeiMPL44Jc3
embarrassment at expensive dinners — all of that could deceive society pages,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYB841mfdme
family enemies, and women who mistook cynicism for intelligence. But before63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡis8vX7Gxdg
real danger, Robin never wasted time denying information merely because it63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEm0tJ8OF6
sounded deranged.
It was one of his few genuinely civilised qualities.
“Stay where you are,” he said. “I’ll arrange a rescue line.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YVDxcFxY7
It cannot be official. The most important thing is that Britain must not define63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaW3Srnk1i2
you first.”
“Define me?”
“Missing. Defector. Dead. Traitor. Asset under protective63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZAQ7faJpLT
custody. Choose any unpleasant noun and place it in a white folder. That is how63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡATsHM6I0n2
governments perform sorcery.”
“I don’t only need extraction.”
“Well?”
Zorina lifted her eyes to the chamber that had slept beneath63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRwnmVsIjs
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,63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMiAw1wFyrw
one card on the table capable of frightening the house.
“Perfect,” he said softly. “Then we shall have a civilised63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8qj4FxTHO
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 continued63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGnui8hQpi3
congratulating itself on being permanent.
63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWf7vssrZM
63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2HJSwR91N
**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.