Chapter 75: Truths and Lies

  KNOWING was the end of the road.

  There were no doors, corridors, or lifts providing access to other sections of the Census Archives. The only means of departure was via the same route we had arrived. But with the Cogwheel gone—on its way to pick up Casten Vorrick from the entrance—we could either wait for it to arrive with him or begin walking along the railway tracks. Where to? The enormous archive chamber we’d passed on our way in. Riven assured me that it connected to numerous other parts of the building. His plan was to guide us through there to reach Valdemar, who was apparently really inside the Census Archives, leading Libra’s attack on the Blood Storage.

  Riven took Becker’s COG before locking her inside KNOWING’s room. Then, he just threw it next to the Cogwheel’s capstan.

  As for Alice...she proved far more difficult—an unwilling passenger for the ride, if you wish.

  “I’m not moving an inch!” she snapped, just a step outside KNOWING’s room.

  Riven sighed, then rolled his eyes. “Well, I’m sorry to inform you about this, Your Highness, but I don’t have the master key for the handcuffs. So, you’re coming with whether you like it or not.”

  “I’m not moving,” she repeated firmly, standing her ground.

  I watched the exchange, still chained to her, my gaze darting between Alice and Riven. The handcuffs, forged from the same Aetheris-infused alloy as the Obsidian Crows’ armor, were unbreakable by any means. The only way I could think of was to use an Aetheris Bullet to destroy them. But after learning what Aetheris was, I was reluctant to use one. I also only had two of them left.

  “Do you seriously not have the key with you?” I asked in disbelief. “What kind of an officer are you?”

  Riven offered a measured smile. “The Obsidian Crow type. The ones who operate beyond the law’s constraints and very rarely arrest anyone.” His demeanor turned serious as he continued. “I left them at the gates. Didn’t think I’d need them. Cut me some slack.”

  “An Obsidian Crow joined a terrorist organization. Are they making anyone a Crow these days?” Alice muttered, her tone biting. Then she turned toward me. “And you? You lied to me. How could you? The one time I decided to trust someone other than myself, and you do this?”

  “I didn’t lie. It’s more complicated than that. You need to – “ I tried to retort but Riven cut me off.

  “We don’t have time for this.”

  He flipped the switch that opened his Aetherguard Mark II, jumped outside and approached Alice. Before she could react, he was already behind her, looping an arm around her neck into a rear-naked choke.

  She tried resisting—pulling my arm and me toward her—but after a few seconds of pressure from Riven, she was out.

  Riven held her steady, smiling toward me. “I hope you’re ready to carry her.”

  I was still a bit shocked at what just happened, but nodded—seeing how we were cuffed together, only I could carry her.

  He handed me a Kinetra.

  “Take it. I don’t want you getting worn out halfway through,” he said. “But be smart with it. If your Burn Rate isn’t high enough, switch to a different crystal so the Kinetra can be stored in Memory Slots for later use when you’re feeling tired again.”

  I shook my head. “How can you use the crystals so easily when you know they’re human?”

  “They’re not human anymore,” he replied.

  “But they were – “

  He shoved the Kinetra forcefully into my hand before speaking. “Seems to me that there are still many things you don’t understand. Valdemar will fill in the missing parts for you, but for now, it’s the fact they were people that should drive you forward. So you can do the right thing—with their help—and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

  I nodded slowly, then slotted the Kinetra into the Channel Core.

  [Burn Rate lvl. 5: Kinetra is burning. Time left – 00:04:59]

  The orange mana made me feel lighter and stronger.

  I lifted Alice onto my arms and followed Riven who left his Mark II behind.

  “Wait,” I called to him, confused. “Why are you leaving the exoskeleton behind?”

  He turned toward me, one eyebrow arched. “Didn’t you say I’m doomed with or without it? If that’s the case, I’d prefer not to let it slow me down.”

  ***

  Kinetra-empowered, we jogged past the Storage Terminals very quickly, and yet the goosebumps returned.

  The thought that each glowing box was once a person was impossible for my conscience to simply dismiss and forget, but I pressed on, still carrying the unconscious Alice.

  With two minutes of Kinetra left, I slotted my last Lumen into the Channel Core—with Riven’s help—to save the remains for later. It was better than letting this one burn and using one of my own. At the end of the day, Lumens were far more accessible than Kinetras.

  [Burn Rate lvl. 5: Kinetra’s burn paused. Time left – 00:01:57]

  [Burn Rate lvl. 5: Lumen is burning. Time left – 00:04:59]

  [Memory Slots lvl. 2: Kinetra is saved for repeat use – 00:24:59]

  The Cogwheel’s chain was already moving in KNOWING’s direction—Vorrick was coming.

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  “We could’ve told her the truth instead of knocking her out,” I muttered, now—without the Kinetra—fully feeling the strain of carrying Alice and running at the same time. “She wouldn’t have believed Vorrick killed her parents. But the crystals? This was provable and could’ve made her join us willingly instead of…well, this.”

  Riven shook his head, not stopping or turning. “It would’ve taken too long, and there's no guarantee she would've believed us.”

  As we reached the Written Archives the sound of the approaching Cogwheel was unmistakable.

  “Quick. Here,” Riven called as he climbed up toward the massive file-library.

  Enveloped in the orange aura of Kinetra he reached a hand down toward us.

  I lowered Alice and held her upright, wrapping my free arm around her waist while reaching our cuffed hands toward Riven. He grabbed the chain and yanked us both up.

  Alice was starting to wake up. And to make things worse, some Archive Workers noticed us. And to make them even worser, the Cogwheel with Casten Vorrick just came into view.

  Riven locked his gaze with the workers and pointed at his insignias. “Keep working.”

  They did.

  Meanwhile, I lifted Alice again and scrambled behind a towering file-shelf, out of Vorrick's view.

  Riven joined us quickly, giving me a tense look. “Keep an eye on her. Be ready to cover her mouth if she suddenly wakes up,” he muttered. Without waiting for a response, he turned and carefully peeked around the edge of the file-shelf, focusing on Casten Vorrick as he passed us by on the Cogwheel.

  I lowered Alice to the ground so it would be easier for me to cover her mouth if the situation demanded it. But as I did, I realized she was already awake.

  With a calm expression, she sat quietly on the floor, her gaze shifting slowly from my outstretched hand hovering near her mouth to my face.

  My heart froze. I was expecting her to scream for Vorrick’s help at any moment. But…she didn’t.

  “Did Casten kill my parents?” she whispered. "I heard you two."

  I glanced at Riven who was still with his back to us, watching for Vorrick.

  “No, don’t look at him,” Alice muttered, pulling back my attention. “Answer me now or I’ll scream.”

  The real answer? I had no idea. There was nothing solid that confirmed it. And he never admitted it to me when I confronted him about it in the pre-Checkpoint run.

  So...I did the most natural thing a person would do in this situation.

  I lied.

  “Yes.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Proof?”

  “There’s plenty of it, but not here,” I kept on lying. “Follow us to Valdemar and you’ll see for yourself.”

  She was about to retort but Riven spoke and grabbed our attention.

  “Your parents were about to help Libra,” he said, then turned to me, sighing in relief. “Vorrick has already passed us.”

  “Nonsense,” Alice said angrily, shaking her head. “My parents would’ve never helped you. And even if they had, Casten would’ve never killed them! They were friends!”

  “Oh, but that’s what happened,” Riven replied, his tone unwavering. He leaned forward slightly, meeting Alice’s gaze. “And Valdemar has all the proof you want—if—you really wish to hear it.”

  She looked at him silently, clearly still refusing to believe his words, yet at the same time it looked like she was considering the possibility they were true.

  Maybe in her own investigation, she came across some things that suggested he was right and she was just denying it...until now.

  One thing still confused me, and it was only when Alice voiced her next questions that I noticed it. She turned to Riven, her voice sharp with accusation.

  “Then why did you have a recording of my father’s dying words?” Alice demanded, her tone rising with each word. “Why did you send me into that orphanage?”

  I suddenly realized that this run might’ve ended much sooner if Alice had pulled the trigger faster back when we were at Mom’s orphanage. Maybe it was even supposed to end there. Back then, I was convinced that the second looper had orchestrated our confrontation, intending for Alice to kill me and thereby waste a run.

  But now, learning that Valdemar was the second looper all along, I couldn’t help but wonder if I wasn’t just simply moving toward someone who wanted me dead. But if that was the case, why was Riven so intent on having me join them? If the idea was to kill me and waste my runs, he could've done so all on his own when the plan with Alice failed. Why the show?

  Or was everything part of Valdemar's plan? Had he predicted that I would persuade Alice to join forces instead of killing me? Had he intended for that to happen and not her killing me? The idea seemed almost impossible—there were countless variables at play, each capable of derailing his plan. So many things could have unfolded differently that it hardly seemed logical to even call this planning at all.

  With these thoughts weighing on my mind, I knew one thing for certain: when I finally came face to face with Valdemar, I would have to remain careful. His goals may be noble, but that didn’t mean the way he planned to achieve them was.

  Riven’s response to Alice’s accusation only deepened my worries. He raised his hands in mock surrender, expression dead serious.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about. That’s the first time I hear anything about a recording,” he said calmly. “But that doesn’t mean anything. Valdemar will tell you the truth, regardless.”

  Alice still looked skeptical, but with Vorrick already gone I assumed she understood she didn’t have much choice unless she wanted to lose consciousness again.

  “Fine,” she muttered, looking away from Riven.

  I reached out a helping hand to her, but she ignored it, rising on her own.

  Without exchanging words, we moved together, our wrists still bound, trailing after Riven as he led us deeper into the Written Archives.

  As we made our way forward, we encountered several Archive Workers. Their confusion was evident, but Riven addressed them with firm orders, instructing them to ignore us. To them, it must have appeared as though an Ironwatch officer was escorting two prisoners in restraints. That was the impression I hoped we left behind. Still, the uncertainty lingered; there was a chance the workers might report us after we were gone.

  After what felt like ten minutes of weaving the tall, seemingly endless file-shelves of the Written Archives, we finally arrived at a metal door with a terminal. Riven unlocked it quickly before leading us through.

  On the other side, an empty chamber with a lift shaft awaited us. Riven stepped forward, scanning his COG on the embedded terminal. Almost instantly, we could hear the sounds of a descending lift.

  “We take the lift here to the tenth floor,” he explained. “That’s where the upper-floors' cafeteria is.”

  I stared at him, puzzled. “Cafeteria?”

  Riven nodded once. “It’s safer this way. We’re well past lunch, so there will be fewer people around. We’ll pass through the cafeteria and use the lifts on the other side of the building. Then, it’s down to the REGISTRIES and the Blood Storage.”

  With Casten Vorrick certainly pursuing us the second he finds Becker, the plan seemed reasonable enough.

  As we waited, I realized I could ask Riven the question that had been gnawing at me, given his past as an Obsidian Crow.

  “Riven,” I called out, grabbing his attention. “I know that some time had passed, but who is Crow #13?”

  He looked at me with a questioning gaze. “Why are you asking?”

  “Why can’t you just answer?” I asked back, exasperated.

  He sighed. “Well, because that’s a trick question. There is no Crow #13.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. He was definitely lying.

  Obsidian Crow #13 had killed me five times already. And I’d even seen the suit—labeled thirteen—in the Vestige. There was no denying it existed.

  “You’re lying,” I said, anger building as the memories of my deaths to the Crow resurfaced. “I’ve seen the suit.”

  Riven’s confusion only deepened. “What do you mean you’ve seen the suit?”

  My patience wore thin. “Just answer the damn question. Why are you lying?” My words came out through clenched teeth.

  He sighed again, deeper this time. “Listen. I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, but the thing about suit number thirteen is that it’s empty. It was left vacant on purpose.”

  “Left vacant on purpose…?” I echoed, confusion growing. “Why?”

  “As a way to commemorate a fallen Crow,” he explained. “The suit remained configured to his Aetherprint so no one else could use it.” He shook his head. “They did something similar for me. Just that, without my suit, they had to settle for the suit’s station, leaving it vacant.”

  His words struck me almost like a physical punch. The guy who killed me so many times was very much alive and kicking. He was far from dead.

  Swallowing hard, I pressed on, my voice growing quieter as the uncertainty intensified. “Who was he?”

  Riven pointed at Alice. “It’s better she answers.”

  I turned to Alice, my worry deepening.

  Alice cleared her throat, visibly uncomfortable. “Suit number thirteen belonged to Casten’s younger brother, Theo. He took his own life seventeen years ago.”

  Update 16/10/25:

  October 27th.