Chapter 39: Clock's Ticking

  As I walked down the corridor inside the building – foldable sword in my right hand, gun resting against my left shoulder – I grew even more nauseous. Every one of my deaths replayed in my mind on a loop.

  I felt like I was going insane. I felt like I had become too desensitized to care about my own well-being.

  To fight it, I let myself spiral into overthinking again.

  Was having my memories between loops erased actually a blessing in disguise? Yes. No doubt about it now.

  Could I have made it here without killing anyone? Maybe. But even now, nothing comes to mind. Not with my COG’s current level.

  Could I have entered this place differently? Maybe. But again, even now, nothing comes to mind. Not with my COG’s current level.

  Should I have just turned around and ran away? No. Definitely not. Just like innovation, the only way was forward.

  And still, I was angry at myself.

  My mind was supposed to be my strongest weapon. But out there, feeling desperation creep in, I had chosen to throw myself straight into danger, fully aware of the disadvantages weighing me down.

  It was nuts. Reckless. Not like me at all.

  Someone like me doesn’t belong on the front lines. I’m supposed to use my brain to avoid situations like this in the first place.

  I shook my head hard, cutting the thought short.

  No. If I’m going to stop Valdemar…if I’m going to stop Erebus, I’ll need to dirty my hands.

  I saw Valdemar’s people outside – Libra. They hated Skyhaven so much, they were ready to kill me on sight just for being here. No questions asked. Only accusations.

  There’s no reason to believe everything can be solved peacefully. Or with safe planning from afar.

  No. Getting my hands dirty shouldn’t be something I avoid. It needs to be an option I’m willing to take freely, without hesitation.

  Speaking of…I still have the three upgrades.

  Yes, I knew they came from Dolos tampering with the System, from him slipping those torturous quests inside. But I suffered. I survived.

  I earned them.

  I stopped walking and flipped the switch on my COG to DjV, opening the interface. Then I navigated to the skill I’d been eyeing since I saw it this morning. This time, it had the upgrade option next to it.

  [Skill acquired: Mirror Leveling lvl. 1 - MAX]

  [Civic Omni-Gear System: You have 9 Upgrades Available]

  [Deja vu System: 2 Level Upgrades Available]

  It worked. It actually fucking worked.

  Before switching to the COG's upgrades, I used the other two Déjà vu System upgrades. One on Timeline, the other on Freeze.

  [Skill acquired: Timeline lvl.1]

  [Next Level: lvl.2: Regression of the object increased up to five minutes]

  [Skill acquired: Freeze lvl.1]

  [Next Level: lvl.2: Cooldown reduced to 30 minutes]

  And just like that, I’d unlocked all the Déjà vu System skills.

  Now, for the big guns.

  [Civic Omni-Gear System: You have 11 Upgrades Available]

  Let’s see…

  Consumption? Not at the moment. I could live with the current conversion rates. I’d rather focus on upgrading something that would help me get more upgrade materials, not something that would give me better ratios. Upgrading this now would just make me more efficient, but I’d still be poor.

  Burn Rate? Now this is useful. Being able to use a crystal for longer before it burned out would be huge. I dropped one upgrade into it, bringing it to level two.

  [Burn Rate lvl. 2: Increased to 1 minute]

  Overheat? Fuck yes. Using two crystals was enough to send my COG into a coma for half an hour. That wouldn’t do. I pumped four upgrades into it, bringing it to level five.

  [Overheat lvl. 5: Internal Cooling System improved. Estimated Downtime reduced]

  Keeping it vague, huh?

  Then, suddenly –

  [Cooling Cycle Completed]

  [Device no longer overheated]

  Hmm…interesting. So, upgrading Overheat will cause the Cooling Cycle to complete instantly. I should remember this going forward. But with the Déjà vu System going crazy, I had little hope for that.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  I sighed, moving on.

  Memory Slots? Being able to cycle back to a previously loaded crystal instead of loading a new one would help me manage the Inventory better. One upgrade, bringing it to level one.

  [Memory Slots lvl. 1: Previously loaded crystal is saved for 15 minutes unless burned through]

  I nodded at the description. It made sense. Memory Slots really depended on Burn Rate.

  Next was Multi-Channel.

  My mind immediately flashed to the Obsidian Crow who killed me. To how he channeled four types of mana at once – quadra-channeling. Currently, I am very far away from that level. And not only because of my COG. Still…I need to start somewhere.

  Two upgrades.

  [Multi-Channel lvl. 2: Able to Dual-Channel]

  Next in line was Durability. I would’ve skipped this one under normal circumstances. With the right crystals, your COG was rarely exposed to actual damage because you’d be able to keep it safe. But if we consider that Stanford had built something for Valdemar that could blow COGs from the inside out, maybe one upgrade wouldn’t hurt.

  [Durability lvl. 1: Fortification System improved]

  Another vague description…Great.

  Last one – Quality.

  Maybe the most important of all. Quality governed the strength of every casting. Right now, my Umbrium shrouds do nothing to a level 37 Guardian. If I wanted to start punching above my weight, this had to go up.

  I dumped the remaining two upgrades here.

  [Quality lvl. 2: Casting System improved]

  And of course…another vague description.

  Well, with a level 14 COG, I could finally do things. I just needed to start testing the limits.

  I resumed walking.

  A few more steps in, I suddenly realized something was off. I was walking unevenly – and it wasn’t sore muscles or callused feet.

  “Oh, right…I lost the sole.” I muttered, crouching to inspect the damage.

  My shitty Orlinth boots were so cheaply made that one yank under the rubble was enough to peel away the sole cleanly.

  I considered ditching the boot entirely, but that wouldn’t solve the imbalance. I’d have to lose the other one too, and running around barefoot in this mess was just asking for trouble.

  I looked around. The corridor seemed mostly intact. Cracks lined the walls from the shockwaves outside, and a few Lumen lamps were shattered, but otherwise it held up. The Calibration Hall was built to last a war, it seems.

  And it didn’t look like Libra insurgents had made it this far in.

  I moved forward until I reached an iron security door. An identification terminal sat embedded in the wall beside it.

  That explained what that Enforcer was trying to say before he got a sword through the back. ‘The others’ he mentioned were the civilians that were in Government Hub #2 when the attack began and hadn’t managed to escape in time. The Enforcers had probably escorted them here, locking them behind this door to keep them safe.

  Made sense. They wouldn’t want a High Technician or any other official to die on their watch.

  But now, everyone outside was dead. Enforcers and Insurgents alike – tore each other apart. The only things still moving were the two Guardians, clashing against each other, their masters already gone.

  I lifted my COG for a scan, deciding to test my luck.

  The terminal lit up – then flashed red.

  Access denied. Of course.

  I looked at my reflection on the terminal’s screen. My face was full of dust and blood. I reached for my head, pain jolting from my touch. I realized the desk from the collapsing building had left a bleeding mark there.

  What now?

  I bet anything there were civilians clutching the door from the other side right now. That’s how people are. Some panic and bury themselves in whatever quiet spot they can find. Others stay close to the door, feeling like proximity equals control – that if something came from this direction, they’d be the first one to be ready.

  Given all that, my best chance at getting in…was acting. And lucky me – my mind was in such a complete mess right now, I could probably pull it off without faking a damn thing.

  I sent the sword and handgun to the Inventory, then started pounding on the iron door. My voice cracked naturally as I yelled. “Please! Let me in! Let me in! They’ll kill me!”

  While I was in no danger whatsoever, reminding myself of all my deaths this run was enough to drag out the emotion. My hands actually began trembling. And my knees threatened to buckle up under me.

  “Please!” I shouted again, still hammering on the door with desperation.

  A muffled voice called out from behind the door. “How do we know you’re not with them?”

  There it is.

  I pressed on. “I’m not! I swear I’m not! I barely made it out of that damn street! Please, open up!”

  I could hear them exchanging words – tones high – discussing if they should let me in.

  Then, a click followed.

  The heavy lock disengaged, and the door creaked open an inch.

  I straightened slightly, preparing for anything, really.

  A young man peeked out through the gap. Behind him, I could see another figure raising what looked like a metal pipe. They both looked hesitant.

  I must’ve looked even worse than I thought because after scanning me for a few seconds, the closest man opened the door fully and stepped out.

  “See? I told you he might be just like us!” He called over his shoulder before hurrying to my side. “Are you okay, buddy? You look awful.”

  “Check him for weapons.” Another voice barked from deeper inside.

  “He doesn’t have any!” The man shouted back after giving me another quick look. “He’s clean!”

  With further hesitation, he grabbed me gently by the arm and pulled me inside.

  Inside, I realized why the Calibration Hall was called that way – it was an actual hall.

  The ceiling was high, unnaturally so, while the walls were this sharp white that almost stung the eyes. In the center stood a massive bronze statue of floating Solvane’s four founders – the visionaries who first proposed life on floating platforms and made it a reality 707 years ago. Elias Taylor, who was believed to be the smartest person in history – the one who figured out the way to make mana crystals functional and by that gave us the gift of magitek – was placed in the front.

  Additionally, their portraits loomed over us from the surrounding walls.

  Three wide doors – one on each wall – led to adjoining rooms. And scattered throughout the hall were people. Two dozen, maybe more – Government Hub #2’s staff members, officials, and whoever else happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Among them were two small families, huddled near one of the doors, children wrapped in their mothers’ arms.

  No one was armed. Or at least it didn’t look that way. And the guy with the pipe only strengthened this assumption.

  Not sure what they looked like, I scanned the room for a High Technician – looking for anyone who stood out, anyone dressed fancier than the rest.

  Supposedly, these people were always on the job. There was always someone turning eighteen in Solvane and needing a handcuff – sorry, I meant a COG – calibrated. And supposedly – and that was another assumption on my part – each of these adjoining rooms was the personal workshop of one of the three Technicians. Supposedly, at least two of them would’ve been here at the time of the attack.

  Maybe they were inside.

  Or maybe…they assumed the insurgents would target them, so they changed into something more normal to blend in.

  “What’s going on outside? How’re Ironwatch doing? Had the Obsidian Crows arrived?” The guy with the pipe showered me with questions, stepping closer. “Who are you?”

  “Give him a breather, man. He just got in.” The man who helped me said, trying to calm the other down, still leading me inside.

  I felt bad for what I wanted to do next. But then the Déjà vu System flashed a single terrifying message that changed everything.

  [Déjà vu System Alert]

  [Darkness Ascension Imminent]

  [Countdown to the End of the World: 00:19:59]

  [System will collapse after this event]

  What? System will collapse?

  Was that how it worked? Was that what happened if I lived long enough through the day?

  Understanding the gravity of it all, I knew I had no time to waste.

  I summoned the handgun into my hand, grabbing the guy next to me and pulling him in front of me at the same time. I shot twice into the air before bringing the gun to his temple.

  Screams broke out immediately. People scrambled to the corners. The guy with the pipe dropped it in fear and raised both hands, stepping back.

  I took a deep breath, in disbelief at how low I had fallen.

  “Which one of you is a High Technician?” I shouted, my patience wearing thin.