The essence spires are genuinely some of the most impressive things I've seen.

  It's something I've been feeling every time I go to work around them. Not just my feeling of awe, but a generalized feeling of nearly every overlapping memory of someone looking up at one feeling the exact same way. The power, the intricacy, the elegance. It's just an incredible feat of magical engineering.

  And I want to know everything about them.

  I understand their basic function and principles well enough, even the math behind how they work. But what I lack is knowledge of the specific components. What they're made of. Their essential composition and the fingerprints that got left on them by the makers.

  What those makers know…

  I shake my head, focusing on the physical sensations of the little codex in my hands to shift my mind back into "reality" again.

  My new codex is a very nice thing — a small blue crystal slate that I can hold comfortably in both hands that is enchanted to collect essence readings are various points in the city to make adjustments to the essence collectors and dispersal systems. Soon I'll be able to make those adjustments myself. I'm eagerly looking forward to it. Time I'll be alone with the—

  Again, I terminate the thought and focus on the slate. I know this thing inside and out after I 'accidentally' broke the first one I was given by 'dropping it in the river', so I run that information through my mind as I make my way place to place and take readings. I just need to focus, that's all. I can ask Mirall about other things later.

  Maybe I can even work out some way to break some things down and do something productive with it…

  "So, Olly. Level with me." Mirall opens, tapping their thumbnails to their fingernails in sequence as they seem to always do while thinking. They also never really look at me. It's something I've noticed that they always avoid eye contact — so I've tried to be accommodating to that and it's gone over well. "Are you acting?"

  The question catches me totally off-guard, and I mentally scramble to find an answer in my memories. One comes after a beat. Something safe. "Mind elaborating?" I'd been expecting something work-related. It's all Mirall ever talks about.

  "I'm saying that you've come up with insights into these collection spires in a month of being here that I haven't considered in nearly fifty years of working with them. Is this whole memory loss thing an act? Running from some sordid past? That and the fact that your name is not at all local to Eldara — I did some reading and found no records of anyone with either Allanius or Parchess in any records I could find, so it's foreign, and likely not a near neighbor at that."

  Mirall explains himself clearly, keeping up his clicking of his claws as he inspects a spot on the wall with a set face. "Not to mention that you're having these breakthroughs typically exactly a week after we have a component failure relating to that specific topic."

  I stare at him, utterly flummoxed and panicking. I hesitate a long time, trying to run the odds of being able to escape this situation without resorting to some sort of violence.

  But if I do, I could take Mirall's knowledge and flee. He never lets anyone else in his office, so if he went missing—

  I clench my hands hard, digging my nails into my left palm to send a centering spike of pain through my mind at the same time that the ring on my right hand courses its calming influence through me. It gives me enough clarity to actually muster an answer.

  I'll just be mostly honest. That's how most of the liars in my mind succeeded.

  "I promise that I'm not faking the memory loss. I only knew my name to give it to you because I had a deed in my pocket when I came to. As to the rest? I can't really say. I've been studying things a lot and when I saw how those things failed I just spent a lot of time trying to suss out causes for the failures and how to prevent them." I trail off, trying to sound apologetic like I probably should. I do, however, specifically leave off that I stole those components and consumed them once I realized that I could without causing a total failure of the spires they were connected to.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  The air feels tense, suffocating. In my head, I'm begging Mirall to just take the explanation so we can go back to the jovial working relationship we had even just three minutes ago.

  Mirall bursts into a fit of laughing before turning his head to smile at me, baring small, sharp teeth. "Oho! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spook you! I was meaning to lead this into good news! I was trying to be all mysterious-like."

  I deflate, letting stress bleed off and willing my mind to try to spool down. "Ah…you…uh, got me good. What's the good news?" I try to dive on the new topic to distance myself from the panic.

  "Well, those changes you drew up, the plans and all that? I saw fit to submit them to the Dawnstar Repository in Asu because I felt like you wouldn't do it. You spend too much time trying to fly under the radar, so I wanted to see you compensated." A sheaf of papers are shoved across the table at me, so I take a few moments to read them, and then a longer couple minutes to pretend to read them.

  "I won't be expected to…be involved, right? It's just something done for the record?" I try to hide my surprise at hearing the name Dawnstar, since that's the name of the person that we're supposed to go meet soon who might be able to help me. A bit of curiosity spikes into my mind that I have to address or I won't be able to focus. "Is the Dawnstar name something special? I've heard it a few times now."

  "Answering in order: You needn't be involved, no. You'll be paid a stipend by the crown when and if your contributions to the nation are put into use in accordance to the value reaped by their use. Which is to say, with the improvements you put forward will probably see you become hilariously wealthy in about ten years.

  "Next, the Dawnstars. You're familiar with the Chartered Families, right? The Blackthorns, Volpes, Vendala and all that?"

  "Only in knowing I've heard the names a lot. I don't know any specifics." I admit, feeling glum about the admission. Every time I have to admit to not knowing something it feels so deeply wrong. It hurts me somewhere deep inside in a way that I struggle to put into words.

  "Well, I'll start there, then. The simple way of saying it is that they're not actually "families" in the sense of being a single familial lineage. They're, practically, just guilds who are tasked with very specific jobs per the crown. The Blackthorns oversee education. The Vendala are purveyors of medicine and medical care. The Volpes arm settlements and claim untamed ground at the nations edge. And, as to your specific question, the Dawnstars oversee magitechnical research and large-scale civil engineering projects like the spires. They're the ones who fund our operations, here.

  "There's a few more, too, but I think that covers the broad strokes well enough to demonstrate the idea." He finishes, snapping fingers on both hands to punctuate the statement and returning to avoiding my gaze per his norm.

  "Why do they exist like that? Why act like they're families if they aren't?"

  Mirall throws his hands up in a deep shrug, clicking them at the apex. "Ask the Rootmother. As far as I know, the creation of those families was something handed down by the Gods about four thousand years ago and it's been that way since. I'm not studied on history, and it seems like a good enough explanation for me. I can say why they're treated like families, though. That's simple, because it's in scripture and logical."

  I wait for him to continue, holding my breath and leaning forward. This is one of the most interesting things I've heard directly in a while and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. "I don't know the scripture here well. Never had any interest in reading about it." I lie. About my interest, at least. I've been avoiding reading about it because Lilly has been doing so and likes sharing things with me as she learns them so I want her to be able to share without needing to falsify my interest. But I genuinely haven't heard this one.

  "Well, the Rootmothers teachings are about forming connections. Like roots under the ground! It's recurring concept that "family" are those people who you hold closest and most dear — not just people who are inherently related to you by a lineage. So those families represent that ethos and show its efficacy. They bring people into their families every year via adoption, birth, or application. Because of that, Eldara has a stronger core of education, industry, among other things than most of her peers. We're stronger together. It brings everything to a steady median and helps to offset sudden problems with the weight of 'togetherness'."

  I nod along, priming an endless tide of questions on the topic while another corner of my mind wanders to consider what, exactly that scripture says about me and my situation. The Prime Calamity said it viewed me as something of a child, but it also embraces being a monster, something I don't want to do. On the other hand, I'm not "related" to either Ayre or Lilly even remotely.

  If "family" is just the people you choose to spend time with — not just the people who are directly related to you — then I suppose that means Ayre and Lilly are family.

  I think I like that.