The trio, followed by #67, made their way down to Sabi's core chamber, at the very bottom of the archive.

  Niala had insisted they go at once, claiming Sabi must have felt super lonely and depressed if nobody had ever thanked or praised her before.

  David knew that was only half the reason. Her raised, wiggling ears would have told him, if he wasn't drowning under the waves of intense curiosity coming through their link.

  The deeper they went, the heavier the doors became, and the sturdier the walls looked. By the time they reached the chamber, everything was made of solid metal, untarnished by the passage of time.

  The final set of stairs led to a short, wide hallway, dimly lit by small mana globes, with a massive, wall-like door at the end.

  They made their way over, Niala in front, the lights brightening as they passed. Halfway through, the door split in the middle along a previously invisible seam.

  Beyond was a dark room, the light from the hallway casting shadows over a single column in the middle of it.

  Niala stopped at the room's threshold. “Hum. Sabi? Hi, I'm Niala. May I enter? I can't wait to speak with you!”

  Her words floated away into the darkness, nothing but silence answering her. She glanced at Rinka, who raised her shoulders.

  A single red light flashed, mid-way up the column, the glow reminding them of Jordo's eye. A series of buzzing sounds followed, pitching up and down. The cacophony lasted a few seconds before some of the chaotic noises began to resemble words, becoming more and more definite.

  Eventually, it stopped, and one word rang out in a deep, but clearly artificial, woman's voice. “Welcome.”

  The sudden, loud speech startled everyone.

  #67 then raised one of its hands and waved. “Hi, Mom.”

  The artificial voice made itself known once more. “Disregard him. His diagnostic functions have not been functional for the past 2,321 years. His core stability is estimated to be in the low thirties.”

  The red light ahead flashed. “Consort Niala, I greet you. Please approach; the optical enchantments in the hallway have degraded greatly, and I cannot perceive you properly. Your companions may accompany you, if you wish it so.”

  Niala looked at David, who gave her a sharp nod. With less certainty than she wanted, she stepped into the room. Bright, intense light burst on, having everyone squint. As their eyesight adjusted, the rest of the room revealed itself to them; nearly featureless and disc-shaped, the floor covered in a glass-like sheen, with the wall and ceiling buffed to a mirror shine. The pillar was indeed a pillar, with a single, large, central eye-like dark red orb, with a red light as its iris.

  The catkin panned her head around, taking in the austere grandness of the chamber, before resting her gaze upon the “eye”.

  She cleared her throat. “Hi, Sabi. Thank you for having me. Is this... you? The pillar?”

  The eye dimmed for an instant. “Hello, consort Niala. It is my conscious core. In a sense, you could say it is me.”

  “Well, it looks really nifty and shiny! So, huh, did you want to talk about anything specific, or would you want to... trade questions? Or just answer questions? Or ask questions?” Niala asked, uncertain.

  Sabi stared at Niala for a moment. “I would be... pleased to answer your questions, consort Niala.”

  She clapped her hands. “Oh! That's great! I have so many questions!”

  David didn't doubt that for a second, even if the rest of the situation felt slightly detached from reality.

  He glanced at Rinka, finding the woman straight as a pole, with pearls of sweat clinging to her brow.

  He wondered what that was about as Niala began her questioning.

  “And in the end, we did have a small wedding, which was great! Because I really didn't want to have hundreds of guests I didn't know anything about at my wedding.” Niala said, letting out a long breath.

  She looked back up at Sabi. “And after that, we came here, hoping to find a way to help the Lumiran descendants from the Living Vault, as you know, and maybe figure out a solution to David's mana corruption problem.”

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  In the end, Niala did have a lot of questions, but she apparently also had a lot to tell.

  As the ebullient catkin brought Sabi up to date, the eye on the column flashed twice. Its synthesized voice manifested. “That is an... interesting tale, consort Niala. Thank you for sharing it. As I am bound to this chamber, my ability to interact with the world is unfortunately very limited. Over the past several thousand years, I have found this limitation to be... frustrating.”

  Niala's ears drooped. “That's really sad. You're like a caged bird... Isn't there a way for you to, I don't know, leave? Like, Papo was a repository consciousness, but he found a way out. Maybe we could try something like that with you?”

  The eye flashed once. “I fear not. The tale of Papo and the luce appears to be an oddity. I am unable to theorize how a consciousness came to merge with a luce. Traditional means would be futile as well; the enchantments required to maintain me are too vast and demanding for a mobile platform.”

  The iris moved down, somehow appearing downtrodden. “I am bound to this archive, and will cease to be when it does.”

  “No.”

  The eye looked back up at Niala. “No?”

  She shook her head. “No. If you want to leave, we'll figure something out. Maybe not today, but we'll work on it. We can ask Gerat how he did it, or... I don't know. Could we build a new, huh, column for you? Bring you over?”

  Sabi stared at the catkin for several seconds before speaking. “Consort Niala, your care for the existence of this consciousness is... touching. I will place my... hopes in you, then. Now, as you have provided me with... company, I must recompense you.”

  Niala waved a hand. “Oh, not at all. I didn't come to talk to you expecting a reward, you know? I mean, we still need information, and Rinka said that meant we needed a higher access level? But I don't want to do that using your good graces.”

  The eye pinned. “Consort Niala, you are saying you came to see me without intending on performing equivalent exchange?”

  “That's right! I just thought you were lonely and would like to have a chat? Wasn't that why you asked me to come see you?” Niala asked.

  The light stared at her for a second before moving to Rinka. “Magister Rinka. Explain why consort Niala does not want to perform equivalent exchange.”

  The woman stood even straighter. “Ah! Hum, yes, you see, citizens often engage in delayed equivalent exchanges. They will offer something in the present without expecting a return right away, though it is still expected at a later date.”

  The light refocused on Niala. “Consort Niala, is this what you are doing? Are you expecting a delayed equivalent exchange? It seems... inefficient.”

  Niala scrunched her mouth. “Not really. What Rinka said, I guess it's a cynical way to think of friendship? We give because it makes the other person happy, and makes us happy at the same time. We don't really, you know, care about the value of what we give, if that makes sense?”

  Sabi's eye remained on Niala. “Consort Niala. How does being a... friend correlate with the primordial concept of equivalent exchange?”

  The catkin scratched her head as her ears drooped. “How can I say this... I guess physical goods can be exchanged for emotions? But how can you assign a value to an emotion, right? And yet, there are people whose emotions are worth more to you than anything in the world.”

  She looked around, her eyes falling on David and her ears perking up. She went to stand beside him, taking his hand in hers and addressing Sabi. “For example, my David. If I give him a gift, and he says thank you, I love it, to me, that he loves the gift is worth its price a hundred times over.”

  Sabi's eye observed the couple, switching over to Rinka, before falling on #67. “Unit 67, do you have insight on this concept of non-measurable equivalent exchange?”

  Everyone turned their heads toward the golem, who was listing to the side by a few degrees.

  It suddenly straightened up. “I give because- I'm afraid you'll leave me- I care!”

  The light flashed and moved back to Niala. “Consort Niala. I have concluded that a non-measurable equivalent exchange is acceptable. Equivalent exchange demands an exchange of equal value. Problem: Non-measurable actions cannot have an assigned value. Solution: A discretionary value must be applied to said actions. Resolution: Consciousness Sabi will assign a discretionary value to your actions.”

  Rinka froze for an instant. “...Wait. What are you saying?”

  Instead of replying, the eye shut down, and the lights in the chamber began dimming haphazardly. Buzzing and grinding sounds filtered through the floor and up to them, gaining in intensity until the metal plates began vibrating under their feet.

  Everything stopped suddenly, the lights returning to their normal intensity, and Sabi's eye glowing bright once more.

  It flashed a few times, scanning left and right, before coming to rest on Niala. “Consort Niala, I have declared you my... friend. Your actions have been given the highest value possible. You may now ask for anything.”

  Rinka cut in before Niala could reply. “Consci- Sabi! What did you mean when you said the highest value possible!?”

  The eye turned its attention to the Magister. “The highest value is the sum total of all items of value within the Radian Archive, including the Radiant Archive itself. Consort Niala is now owed this much.”

  Rinka's arms went limp. “...doesn't that basically mean she owns the Radiant Archive?”

  Sabi's eye flashed in a way which somehow felt smug. “In order to respect the core concept of equivalent exchange, since consort Niala is owed the entire value of the Radiant Archive, the only possible solution is for the Radiant Archive to be given to her.”

  The light turned back to Niala. “Consort Niala. The transfer of goods has been recorded in the Radiant Archive. You now own the Radiant Archive. Redesignating Consort Niala... Welcome, proprietor Niala. The Radiant Archive is yours to command.”

  Niala shook herself out of her shock. “No! No, it's too much, Sabi! I just talked with you a little! And, this is your home, I can't own it!”

  #67 jerked and pointed at the pillar. “Pay your rent or- I'll break your knees- I'll call the peacekeepers!”

  Everyone ignored him.

  The eye flashed. “Proprietor Niala, did you forget? You offered consciousness Sabi a new home. The Radiant Archive is yours. I am to be removed from its premises at your earliest convenience.”

  And then, it mellowed, along with the so-far monotone voice. “I... really want to see the world. Not just read about it.”

  David sighed. He didn't need to look at Niala to know that getting Sabi out of here was now top priority.

  He heard a sack of potatoes hit the floor. He looked over to find Rinka passed out.

  #67 bent over the unconscious magister, neither of his eyes exactly aligned toward her. “Miss, you can't park there.”