Chapter 9, Part 2: The Archive Prepares Nothing
❖ Inside the Archive – Day 3 After the Purge
Kairon slept.
Or at least, pretended to.
Mav paced near the second spiral shelf, tossing an apple core from hand to hand.
"You know," he said, voice lilting, "we killed a plaza's worth of people three days ago. The city's locked down. The factions are snarling. The air outside smells like incense and blood."
No reply.
Mav turned to Brix.
"He hasn't moved."
Brix crossed his arms. "He will when it matters."
"He said don't go after Envy."
Lio stood beside the training circle, blade drawn but idle. "Maybe he knows something we don't."
Mav's grin cracked slightly. "Oh, I'm sure he knows lots of things he doesn't tell us."
His tone sharpened.
"But that shadow is out there. Watching. You feel it too, don't you?"
Even Nair, silent in the corner, raised his head. His aura pulsed faintly—starving again, not from food, but from purpose.
Kairon opened one eye.
"You all sound nervous."
Mav barked a laugh. "Shouldn't we be? Someone out there is pretending to be you. Mocking us. Copying our aura. Baiting us."
Kairon sat up slowly.
Stretch. Yawn.
Then: "Good. That means we don't have to search for him."
Lio frowned. "You're just going to wait?"
Kairon nodded. "I'm not chasing someone who wants to be caught."
Mav stepped forward. "That's not strategy."
"No," Kairon said. "It's experience."
❖ Elsewhere – Eastern Waste Bunkers
Envy stood in front of a mirror not made of glass.
This one was made of people.
Four to be exact.
All former faction informants. Bound. Stripped of wards. Faces half-masked.
He had taken pieces from each of them.
One's voice.One's memory.One's favorite phrase.One's fear.
They didn't scream anymore.
They just reflected.
"That's what you are," he whispered. "Reflections."
"I'll show him what he missed. What he refused to see."
"And then I'll burn the frame that left me out."
[System Alert: Passive Threat Lure Detected – ENVY Manifestation Aura Extending]
[Student Emotional Sync Strain: Brix – 67%. Lio – 58%. Mav – 72%. Nair – 40%.]
[Archive Status: Defensive Lock Remaining. External Provocation Not Yet Breached.]
❖ Back in the Archive
Kairon poured tea.
Not with magic.
With a clay kettle, cracked slightly at the base.
He didn't speak.
Mav did.
"Explain it to me, then," he said. "Why wait?"
Kairon sipped.
"Because Envy's not asking to be saved."
Brix frowned. "Then what's he asking?"
Kairon looked over the edge of his cup.
"To be seen. Loudly."
Lio blinked. "So we're giving him what he wants?"
Kairon set the cup down.
"No."
"We're giving him a stage."
He rose.
Finally.
The System flared slightly.[Host – Standing. Aura Passive Emission Increasing.]
"Let him come."
"Let him bring everything."
"But this time, we won't greet him with silence."
Mav whispered, "Then with what?"
Kairon replied:
"With truth."