The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere

Abbey House | ??? | Third Day

For a few moments, no one knew how to react, so the conversation simply stopped dead, the whistles blaring in the background.

Eventually, though, Fang spoke up, along with a nervous laugh. "Phew," they said. "That doesn't seem good, huh?"

"P-Perhaps it's the other members of the council," Mehit suggested, hesitant. "They could be trying to contact us about what happened."

"If that is the case, then I would be confused as to why they would issue a summoning to every single logic bridge in the building at once," Bardiya said, and turned to regard Linos. "Could this be a quirk of your network, sir?"

Linos stared into the middle distance for a moment, but then blinked and shook his head sharply, turning to the younger man. "N-No, I don't believe so. The bridges here all have their own unique signatures for the purpose of making connections, as everywhere else in the world. The summoning whistles are only connected to them and logic engines - there's no specific connection within the sanctuary that could get cross-wired to make them all go off at once."

"I see," Bardiya said, nodding grimly. "With that in mind... The only conclusion to draw that this is being done intentionally. Which, since they could just as easily issue a summoning to just one, considerably narrows down the potential motives of the responsible party." He raised a hand to his chin, pushing the forefinger against the underside of his lip. "Am I correct in assuming there is a mechanism for moderating connection with the outside world, considering the purpose of this sanctuary?"

"There is," Linos said, but sounded uncertain. "We have an emergency filter in the event of a siege that can be triggered from the security office... But I don't know if it's active. I was watching the last of the centennial celebration earlier, and I think it was still going after the lights went off."

Another moment passed, the sound continuing to drone on expectantly. Perhaps we all just sort of hoped it would stop if we ignored it for long enough.

"I... I've got a really bad feeling about this, to be honest," Theodoros said, "but shouldn't we probably answer it?"

"What? No way!" Ptolema protested. "This is sketchy as heck!"

"...I mean," Seth said carefully, "I guess there's nothing that can really happen, right? No matter who's doing it, it's not as though they can stab us straight through the Tower of Asphodel."

She huffed disagreeably, crossing her arms. "I guess..."

"I've a mind to get it over with just to stop the din," Kamrusepa said, rubbing her eyes. "It's that, or try to make a plan amidst this din, which seems entirely too much to contend with."

"So... What, then...?" Ophelia asked. "Should we split up and go to our rooms...?"

"No," Linos said, with sudden firmness. "If this isn't some kind of mistake, then I doubt whoever is doing that has something specific to say to everyone. At worst, they want us to split apart, and we'd be playing right into our hands." He narrowed his eyes. "Who has the nearest room?"

"That would be me," Bardiya said.

Linos turned to look up at him again. "Would you mind?"

Bardiya considered this for a moment. "It's a bit of a mess at present," he said, "but I've no objections."

"Alright," Linos replied, with an anxious nod. "Let's get along, then. I agree with miss Tuon-- I've had my share of being deafened tonight already."

Thus, the 13 of us rounded the corner and began to file into Bardiya's guest room. As he had told us, it was messy in a way that seemed contrary to his personality. There were articles of clothing strewn about, some unfinished food, and the bed already seemed to have been significantly stained by some drink. Nevertheless, the rooms were generous in size enough for us all to easily cram in without stepping on anything.

Then, one by one, we reached out to touch the logic bridge. It took a few moments for a link to be established, upon which all of the whistles stopped at once.

And then it began.

What unfolded in my minds eye, overlaid on top of the opposite wall, was an image of a black void. It was like a starless night's sky, not unlike what now appeared to surround the sanctuary. And at it's center, there stood a single figure.

At first, I thought it was a human, but I quickly noticed the limbs were off and recognized it as Aruru. However, its outfit was different; far more feminine, looking closer than even the uniforms of Sacnicte and Yantho to an actual maid's dress, complete with white frills. But there was also a vaguely religious quality to it, with a white habit adorning its shoulders.

Nothing happened, at first. The thing simply stared at us over the artificial space of logic engine.

"What," Seth said, frowning. "Is that it? What the hell is it doing...?"

"This is getting kinda creepy," Ptolema said, her expression anxious. "Hey! Say something!"

"It can't hear you, Viraaki," Ezekiel said, rolling his eyes. "Sense it out. It's a one-way link."

A one way link, I thought. In other words, what's about to happen isn't a conversation. It's a message. An announcement.

"It must be waiting for someone's direction," Ran deducted, her gaze focused. "Machines can't interface a logic bridge with a human to facilitate the iron conversion. The summoning has to have been sent by someone else."

"At least that rules out any of us who could be doing this," I said, furrowing my brow.

This statement was dumb, but I wouldn't realize why until some time later.

"Grandmaster Linos," Kamrusepa said, turning in his direction. "Where was the last time you saw that golem?"

"Me?" He asked, raising both eyebrows. "Well... I didn't see to it myself, but I'm pretty sure it was sent back into storage in the research tower after we'd finished with the conference."

"Who did 'see to it?'"

He clicked his tongue, looking like he was trying to think. "Probably Hamilcar? It's his creation, after all--"

"Thank you for waiting," the golem suddenly said in its polite and mechanical monotone, causing almost everyone in the room to collectively jump. Ptolema even let out an urgent squeal. It reached down and took hold of the hem of its skirt, and curtsied. "All within the sanctuary are now observing, so we may begin."

Grave silence fell over the room once again as this turn of events was processed. We watched as the thing spoke, slow and methodical.

"It is known that, at the advent of the world, man defied the will of the gods by seeking knowledge beyond his ken, and for this reason was curtailed in his years upon the earth, so as to place limit upon his hubris. Since that age, my master has been charged with upholding this divine edict, shepherding the souls of the dead to their rightful destination, and striking down those with the conceit to defy the natural order."

That kind of language was recognizable immediately as akin to what we'd heard during the conference, even through the lifeless lips of the machine.

And even though it seemed unthinkable, I knew in that moment what was probably coming.

"Midnight has now passed, and the extension of mercy which was afforded has gone ignored," it continued. "For this reason, judgement has been passed. It is hereby decreed that all the lives within the walls of this sanctum are forfeit, and shall be taken in sacrifice to glorify Eshk."

Taken in sacrifice.

At those words, a terrible feeling, both hot and cold at once, was born in my chest. It spread forth, filling my face and the length of my limbs.

"W-Wait," Ptolema said, her voice cracking. "What's it saying...?"

No one answered, but a quick glance confirmed everyone else was having more or less the same reaction at me, staring with some mix of shock or panic.

Well, everyone except for Fang. They looked almost curious about what was happening, quirking an eyebrow very, very slowly.

"However, the master is not cruel, and a scenario in which death is an outcome with a probability of 100% is, itself, a subversion of the natural," it continued. "Thus, as has been tradition for generations countless, he is willing to embark on a game of chance and skill with you to confer an opportunity to avert your fate. I will now explain the rules of this game you are to play."

Linos, who was standing next to me, had gone very, very still. I could hear the sound of his breathing.

"As of right now, my master has used the infinite power of the gods to seize control of the base mortal mechanisms used to operate this sanctum, preventing your escape. But he has refrained from making this control absolute. Though this place may be doomed, it remains possible to reverse many of these interventions and depart via the mundane means built into its design. If this is done, you shall not be pursued, and your crimes will go unpunished." It paused for a moment, presumably for emphasis. "However, in addition to this, he has also unleashed two heavenly beasts, nursed from the breast of Hetu, queen of the gods. So long as you remain here, they shall hunt you without reprieve, claiming your souls one by one until the debt is settled."

"Furthermore," it continued, "though the patience of the master is infinite, he will not tolerate cowardice, sloth, or crude attempts at cheating him of his rightful yield. Thus, the game will last only until the stroke of midnight. At the tolling of the hour, he will ascend from his seat in the underworld himself in glory, and strike down any who yet live within these walls." It bowed its head. "The master bids you good fortune, and wishes you to know he looks forward to seeing how you will play. Please try to enjoy yourselves."

And at that, the transmission ceased, leaving us to process that ridiculous final note to the harrowing announcement we'd just been delivered.

"Y-You're fucking kidding me," Ezekiel said, very quiet.

No one else spoke for several moments, stunned silence dominating the room.

I'm not sure what I was expecting to happen in that moment. It was one of those moments where it felt like the borders of what was possible within ones lived reality collapsed all at once, like seeing a bomb go off in your home town.

Then, the worst thing possible happened. Everyone started to panic.

"I-- This has gotta be some kind of joke, right...?" Seth said, his tone anxious. "Is this some weird test the order is doing? What the hell was that?"

"Try to stay calm, Seth," Kamrusepa said, though her tone was barely more relaxed, her breathing heavy and urgent. Bardiya nodded along with her words.

"Try to-- Try to stay calm?! Someone just told us they're going to try to kill us!" he said, suddenly audibly frightened and upset in a way I'd never heard him be before. " How the hell can I stay calm?!"

Ran visibly winced at his shouting, pulling herself inward. Her arms tightened around her book, and she closed her eyes tight, taking a deep breath.

"Oh shit," Ptolema muttered quietly, biting the rim of her thumb and pacing about on the spot. "Oh shit, oh god, oh god..."

"Mister Melanthos," Mehit said, her tone severe. "What's the meaning of this? Is this a real threat, or another prank, like the one that happened in the afternoon?"

"I-I don't know," he said, his tone stammering. "I'm sorry, I need to check--"

"You don't know?" Her whole face bulged with the last word. "You and the rest of the council assured us, assured everyone, that it was an empty threat! Are you going back on that now? Are you saying it wasn't?"

LIlith started to hyperventilate a bit. She tapped her hand against the logic engine repeatedly, her eyes wide. Her mother, preoccupied with raising her voice at Linos, didn't seem to notice.

She probably can't make contact with the outside world, I thought. We've been cut off.

"I really don't know any more than you do right now, miss Eskhalon!" Linos said, nervously raising his own voice. "The stuff-- The stuff about them seizing control of the sanctuary by magic, or whatever they were trying to say, or killing us with some supernatural power, that's obviously nonsense-- But the rest, I don't know! Not yet!"

"I think I'm going to be sick," Theodoros said, sitting down on the bed. "Is it true...? Does the lockdown mean we can't escape?"

"Not necessarily!" Linos objected quickly, holding up a hand. "This could all just be some cheap tactic by whoever killed Neferuaten to frighten us and keep us from acting! Unless they have access to the administrative controls - which is impossible to begin with - we should be able to schedule the gateways to open from the security center!"

"How are we going to get into the security center is someone's trying to kill us?!" Seth protested, running his fingers through his curly hair, now coated in sweat.

"We don't know that's happening!" Linos shouted. "We don't know anything! Everyone just-- Everyone needs to stay calm, like miss Tuon said!"

Suddenly, Ophelia, who had been relatively quiet, stumbled forward, almost collapsing. Her breaths were heavy, and her face had become flushed deep red.

"O-Ophelia!" Seth said, kneeling down. Theodoros frowned at the scene, looking even more put off than before, and clenched his fists.

"Oh, great," Ezekiel said darkly. "She's probably going to throw up again."

Things were rapidly spiraling out of control. Ironically, considering the standard for my state of mind, I probably felt among the calmest in the room; though make no mistake, I was panicking, my heart racing in fear. But to some extent, I'd been so emotionally overwhelmed by what I'd seen already that I had only limited energy left to properly freak out.

It looked like Bardiya was the only other person who was staying relatively collected. But then, it was always hard to tell with him. Ran might've been calm - her eyes were still shut, and at this point she was virtually motionless - but in this instance, even I couldn't tell.

I probably should have said something, but it was all happening too quickly. It was easy to forget that, as mature as some of us were capable of acting, almost everyone here was still only barely an adult, and were largely from privileged backgrounds. Save for Bardiya, none of us had ever been in a real life-or-death situation. To have one as insane as this arise, in a situation we'd been assured was safe, felt unreal in the worst way possible.

"Sorry, I, uh... I'm alright... "Ophelia said, shuddering. "I just-- I can't deal with something like this happening right now. I can't."

"Dying gods, are you serious?" Ezekiel said, rubbing his brow. "How the hell did you people even get into this class? You're supposed to be some of the most capable people our age in the Remaining World, and you're responding to this by going into hysterics."

"Go fuck yourself, Ezekiel," Seth snapped angrily. "Are you telling me you're not freaking out after just being told someone's about to hunt you down and kill you? Huh?!"

"I'm not thrilled about it, if that's what you mean," he said, coldly. "But at least I'm not pissing my pants on the floor like a goddamn child."

"I knew I should have taken that stuff at the conference seriously," Ptolema muttered, still pacing. "Everyone was saying it wasn't serious but-- Ugh, why am I so dumb...?"

"Mister Melanthos!" Mehit continued, her tone growing increasingly urgent. "How are you going to get us out of here? We placed out safety in your hands when we came here. This is your responsibility!"

"I just need some time to think!" he said, rubbing the side of his head. "Just give me a moment!"

"What we need to do is get out scepters out," Ezekiel said, taking his own advice and withdrawing his from his waist. "Based on what that thing told us, we could be attacked at any moment. We need to start securing the perimeter."

"Don't be foolish," Kamrusepa chided him sternly. "Look at the state everyone's in. If we start flinging incantations and pointing weapons around willy-nilly, what do you think is going to happen?"

"If the rest of you want to fucking lie around defenselessly, like turtles on your back waiting for an eagle to spot you, that's your damn business, but if you expect me to follow along like a lemming, you're mistaken."

"Hate this," Lilith said, off to the side, still thumping her hand against the logic bridge. "Hate this, hate this."

Mehit turned towards her sharply, suddenly realizing what she was doing. "Oh, gods! Lili, I'm sorry..." She walked over and embraced her in a hug, but Lilith barely seemed to notice.

"Dad," Theodoros said. "You really need to do something. Someone needs to step up, right now."

"I know, Theo," he replied, through grit teeth. "I just--"

Ezekiel interjected. "We obviously can't rely on him. We need to--"

"ALRIGHT!" Fang said, loudly enough to make everyone jerk their heads in their direction, including myself. They clapped their hands together over their head in a decisive motion. "EVERYBODY SHUT UP FOR A SEC, OKAY?"

As they willed it, the room fell silent. Even Ophelia seemed stunned into being composed, if only for a second.

They took a breath so deep it almost verged on parody, then exhaled with equal force, slowly lowering their hands. "Alright. Okay." They looked to the side. "Linos. You had a strong barrier incantation active when you came over here, right?"

He blinked. "Ah, yes."

"Would you mind reactivating it? Enough to cover the room for a bit, if that's okay."

"Oh," he said, and then straightened up a bit, as if a spell had been broken. "Right, of course." He began casting.

"Su, you've got a pretty good one on your scepter too, right? One that doesn't mess with force-based ones too much" they asked. "Can it fit around a whole room?"

"Uh, it should be able to," I said with a nod.

"Great!" They smiled widely. "Would you mind? I don't mean to boss you around, just, well. Kinda a delicate situation here, y'know?"

I nodded, wordlessly, and incanted. Some of the others watched me, while others seemed to slowly be composing themselves. Seth in particular seemed to be calming down, looking to the floor and breathing heavily.

E n t r o p y - D e n y i n g

"...(𒌍𒌷𒀭)(𒌍𒁁𒀭)𒅥𒌈𒆜𒈣𒂠, 𒋢𒀀𒅆𒌫𒃶,𒈬𒊹."

One we were both finished, Fang nodded in satisfaction. "Okay! Good!" They clapped their hands together for a second time, though this time only in front of their chest. "Now that that's done, let's try to get ourselves together. I get that you guys are spooked, but... Honestly, if you think about it, I don't think this situation is as scary as you all seem to think it is?"

Most of the room just looked baffled at these words, but Ran spoke up for the first time in a while. "...what are you getting at, Fang?"

"I mean," they said, scratching the back of their head casually. "It's not like I'm some expert on this kind of thing, or anything like that, but... If you get down the essence of what they said, it wasn't really anything super substantial. Like, nobody took that stuff about gods and divine beasts too seriously, right? Let's be rational, here."

Regardless of if that were the case or not, no one objected to the premise.

"'cause like, when you strip that away," they went on, "what you're basically left with is, 'I'm somebody with access to some of the controls here. I'm really mad, and I'm gonna come and kill you. But I don't have any way to prove I have the power to do that, so I'm gonna make a bunch of threats to try and freak you out.' Since, y'know, if they did have a god on their side, they'd reverse gravity for a sec, or turn the world black and white, just they show they could do it." They glanced around. "You guys think I have that right?"

...it was a pretty good point, now that the air had cooled enough to process it. What had happened so far - the lights going off, some of the lockdown controls being enabled, this message - seemed in large part to build atmosphere. When you dismissed that, everything but Neferuaten's murder, which could easily have been an ambush, was all pretty mundane.

...Yeah. Now that I was calming down a bit, it didn't seem as absurd.

"You act like them having those controls is nothing." Mehit said. "Isn't that enough to leave us defenseless as is?!"

"Hey, hey, don't get worked up! It's gonna be okay," they said, making a soothing gesture with their hands.

Mehit frowned. "How can you possibly claim that, given the circumstances?"

Fang seemed to consider this for a moment, sticking their hands on their hips. Then, they suddenly nodded to themselves, as if they'd come to some revelation. "We~ll, I guess I can't, strictly speaking. But hey, we're all pretty smart, and collectively, we've got a whole bunch of eris. That's a pretty good start, in my book, y'know?"

Mehit looked baffled, staring at them with her mouth open.

Fang didn't seem to mind, spinning on their heel and turning to Linos. "Old man. I've heard there are kinda two tiers of control in this place, right?"

"Uh, yes," he said. "That's correct."

"The stuff you can change in the security center, and the stuff you can change in the administrative place we passed down below earlier." They pointed at the ground. "If you don't mind, could you give us a quick run-down of what you can do in both, and how exactly you get access? There was a bit of that earlier, but I feel like we really gotta hash out the facts, here."

It was kind of amazing seeing Fang take such a grip of the situation. They weren't normally the type to assume leadership in any situation.

They still had that strange look, too. Almost like they were intrigued about what was going on.

"Alright..." Linos said, nodding. "Well, the security office is on the ground floor of the inner sanctum - that's, uh, the proper term for our headquarters, the temple building - adjacent to the main hall... That's the big library, if anyone doesn't know." He cleared his throat. "From there, all you can really do other than the lockdown is monitor the rest of the sanctuary. Who's in it, where they are, what they're doing-- That sort of thing."

"Got it! And the lockdown?"

He took a breath, as if figuring out how to express something complicated. "F-From the security office, you have basically four powers. Firstly, you can put up the anti-arcana fields everywhere except the underground and the research tower. Secondly, you can stop the non-essential eris flow to everywhere but those two places. Thirdly, you can seal the inter-bioenclosure doors. And finally, you can block out logic engine communication, both externally and between the bioenclosures except for--"

"For the research tower and the underground. I get you," Fang said, nodding enthusiastically.

Hm.

Linos nodded in turn. "As for how you get in, normally all you need is one of the emblems everyone affiliated with the order gets." He fished out a copper amulet with a symbol of an eye on it - just like the one Neferuaten had shown us back in the induction chamber. "Then you can walk right in and access the controls. But that's only for the basic stuff - to trigger a lockdown, you need one belonging to a senior member, and one the system currently registers as within the sanctuary. To, uh, prevent someone from coming in with a stolen one and exploiting the system."

"Not too great a mystery to imagine where they might've got their hands on one," Kamrusepa said glumly.

Linos looked confused for just a moment, but frowned, his eyes sad. "I suppose not." He shifted uncomfortably, looking off to the side. "In any case, once a lockdown is in place, there's basically no way in or out of the security office and the safe room beneath it. The doors seal, and all its defenses activate. After that, there's only two things that can happen next. First, if the lockdown isn't confirmed at the administrative core within 3 hours of starting, it'll stand down automatically. Secondly--"

"Hey, sorry, quick question," Fang said. "Can you start another lockdown right away, if that happens? If you're still in the security center."

Linos furrowed his brow. "Uh, no," he said. "If that happens, it's assumed it might be the result of foul play. So you can't do another until they're re-enabled at the administrative core."

"Gotcha, gotcha," Fang said. "Sorry to interrupt."

"R-Right," Linos said. "So, as I was saying. Secondly, by a council member going in person - and with their emblem - to the administrative core and shutting it down personally. That's what I was talking about earlier."

"Let's move onto that core, now," Fang said. "How does that work?"

"Well, the room itself isn't normally locked, but there's basically nothing you can do if you're not-- If you're not a member of the council." He hesitated, clearing his throat. "The terminal checks both your physical body and your emblem, and even then, you can't do much by yourself. Just shut down unconfirmed lockdowns and make superficial changes to the system. Most of it is locked behind three of us being there all at once, which couldn't be the case here."

"But what happens if you do manage to get three people," Ran asked, before Fang had a chance to.

Linos took a deep breath in a way that was almost like a wince, as if even the possibility was too much for him to the consider. "Well... If you do that much, then you basically have the keys to the whole of Apsu. You can issue a permanent lockdown that covers everything in the entire sanctuary. You can change the way the golems behave, command the defensive enchantments against intruders--"

"Woah, you can't just drop some shit like that," Seth said urgently. "What the hell kinda 'defensive enchantments' are you talking about?"

He bit his lip. "Y-You have to understand that this place wasn't just built as a refuge, master Ikkuret," he said hesitantly. "It's also a fortress to defend us from people who'd shut down our work, like the censors--"

"Cut the crap!" he shouted. "I mean, what specifically can it do!?"

"Seth," Kamrusepa said tersely. "Please try to cool down."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Shit!" He exclaimed, gesturing strongly with his arms. "It's just fucking scary, you know? We barely know anything about this freaky place, someone might've taken over the whole thing, and now we're being told they can just... Just..."

He trailed off. We all ended up looking to Linos expectantly.

"...among other things," he said, in very quiet voice, "the gravity of the sanctuary can be manipulated, to incapacitate intruders. There are defensive golems which can be deployed, armed with refractor cannons and explosives. There's gas which can be pumped in, wards that impede movement, incantations to produce unbearable sound, and... Some more... Destructive effects, which can be triggered at various locations..."

Anxiety in the room was building up again. Seth looked on the verge of a heart palpitation.

"For worst case scenarios, in instances where there has already been catastrophic loss of life," Linos went on, "The shielding of the bioenclosures can be remotely breached."

Even I couldn't stop myself from feeling a twinge of fear at that.

"Fucking hell," Seth whispered to himself.

"You mean we could just be crushed by an entire world's worth of water, in an instant?" Mehit exclaimed. "What manner of-- Of paranoid lunatics would you have to be to create the means to do something like that?!"

Probably sensing things getting out of hand, Fang clapped their hands together again. "That's not gonna happen, though!" they declared. "Because if whoever had done this could do that, they'd have done some of it already, right? If they could blow this place up, or crush us into pulp with a golem army, or fill our lungs with poison, they totally would've." They smiled confidently. "In fact, if you try and think positively, doesn't this prove our position is stronger?"

"I think I see what you're getting at," I said hesitantly. "The fact that what you can do at the security center and what you can do at the administrative core is so different, and we've only seen whoever's done this perform actions possible at the former..." I scratched my head. "Well, if they really had so much power, you'd think they would have been happy to demonstrate it to us."

Fang snapped their fingers, pointing to me. "Exactly, Su! That's the kinda overly-detailed explanation I'd expect from you!"

I wasn't sure how to respond to that, so I just flattened my brow.

"B-But we saw them controlling that golem earlier!" Ptolema said fearfully. "Isn't that something you can only do from the administrative-whatever?"

"It's like listening to a child in an adult's body," Ezekiel said flatly, rubbing his eyes. "Viraaki, that was just an image. Anyone could have fabricated it within the logic interface with a little time to prepare. It doesn't mean anything."

"Oh," Ptolema said. She frowned. "But Kamrusepa was acting like it was a big deal a minute ago."

Kamrusepa quirked her brow in irritation. "No, I was thinking that--"

"One final question, old man!" Fang said, interrupting their exchange before it could devolve into an argument. "The lockdown. Once it's in place, can anything about it be changed, from either place?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "It's one-and-done. Even from the core, you'd have to stop and start the process again."

"But it looks like communications are out now," Ran said, pressing her hand against the logic bridge. "And I thought you said you thought you'd still be watching the centennial when this started to happen."

Linos blinked a few times. "...you're right. That must have been impossible." He rubbed his eyes. "Sorry, I was sleeping before this-- And to be honest, I have had a little to drink. I must have got myself mixed up."

I didn't get the sense he'd misled us about the technical stuff he'd just said, but I was getting the increasing vibe that Linos was hiding something. It wasn't exactly an encouraging feeling.

"With all this established," Kamrusepa said, finally having returned to something close to her leadership voice, "it still seems like the original plan, to make our way to the administrative center, is the best idea."

"Yes," Linos said, who also seemed to be rallying emotionally as everyone began to calm down. "I agree, now that I've got my thoughts together. But we'll need a more comprehensive plan, now that we know there's someone dangerous at work." He straightened himself up. "Listen: On the second floor of this building, in the game room, there's a drawer with some items for use in the event of an emergency. It has a few tools, some of the more mundane keys, and most importantly, a map of the whole sanctuary." He looked towards me. "Utsushikome, I believe you have the best barrier here other than myself, so would you mind going to get it?"

"Um, well... Okay," I said, feeling a little anxious about the idea, but also like it wasn't really appropriate to refuse.

"I don't think anyone should be on their own right now," Ran said firmly. "Or even close. Period."

He exhaled through his nose. "Good point. A few of you should go with her, then."

"I'll go," Ran said, obviously.

"M-Me too," Theo said.

A thought occurred to me. "Kam, would you come?"

She blinked, looking puzzled. "...if you like," she eventually said.

Linos seemed confused by this, but didn't question it. "Fang, you're the most capable arcanist here other than myself. Please go, too."

They gave a small salute. "No problem!"

"Sorry, Su," Seth said, frowning and not making eye contact. "I'd come back you guys up, but I'm-- I need to get my shit together." He looked down to Ophelia, who was still silent on the bed, looking like she was verging on being in shock.

"It's fine," I said, and looked to Linos. "Where exactly is it?"

"On the left side as you enter, bottom shelves, third... No, I think second drawer from the window," he explained. "If you can't find it right away, just come back instead. It's not worth putting anyone in danger."

I nodded.