Chapter 23: Unexpected Help

  [Loop Count: 5]

  The metallic ceiling of my holding cell greeted me when I woke up, reminding me of my encounter with Devin.

  Then I remembered my conversation with Chronos – the one that happened just before this loop began.

  We’d agreed he’d let me retain the memory of a certain Anastasia Wright’s appearance. Just in case she was Dolos’ Champion. But…he refused to let me remember where I’d met her or who she even was, claiming that knowledge could influence my future runs enough to fall under Erebus’ gaze.

  Her image flashed in my mind. Judging by her attire, she was some sort of office worker. A secretary? A bank teller? A clerk? I couldn’t for the life of me remember.

  And I didn’t like that.

  I refused to accept Chronos’ little manipulations. I was the one busting my ass down here. Meanwhile, he couldn’t even follow me properly.

  He was blind. Mostly.

  And if he was blind, that meant he wouldn’t really see me if I went against his wishes to figure out who this Anastasia Wright actually was.

  Let’s work slowly.

  I checked the inner pocket of my jacket – it was marked by Temporal Trace – but it had nothing but coins inside of it.

  Surely my Inventory could offer some additional clues.

  I took a deep breath, still struggling to accept I could just summon it with the power of my mind.

  But I did.

  And the purple menu hovered in the air in front of me, presenting everything my past selves had collected.

  The first thing that grabbed my attention was a Dematerializer.

  How in the world did I get one in my previous runs? Who cares. The important thing was that I wasn’t marked by Erebus – so I must’ve pulled it off cleanly.

  Then my eyes turned to Time Plane Memory #6. I faintly remembered Chronos telling me those memories were legit when I asked him about them, seconds before he sent me away.

  Good. One less thing to be concerned about.

  Now, to see what it is…

  I selected it. In my mind, I watched the meeting between some “Watson” and someone who was likely Valdemar. My heart thundered when the memory reached its end, and I realized they were talking about my mother the entire time.

  Suddenly the presence of the Dematerializer in the Inventory made more sense – it was my mother’s.

  I immediately summoned it into my hands and held it carefully.

  If I had to guess, knowing myself, I probably went to the DGO to steal a Dematerializer. But there was no way I managed it in just three loops. Nuh-uh. Not with my shitty level 3 COG. Not with zero mana crystals.

  Which meant…I probably got it directly from this Watson guy. According to the memory, he was the one who received it after Mom was killed.

  But where did I even meet him? Who was he? In the memory, possibly-Valdemar only ever called him Watson.

  So, to sum up: I had two names. Two people. No clue who either of them were.

  Perfect.

  I groaned, rubbing my temples, the Dematerializer still in hand.

  One of my cellmates – a Skyhaven man who looked like he was lost far away from home – glanced my way and froze.

  His eyes widened. “Why do you have a Dematerializer?”

  I didn’t want to get into trouble this early in the loop, so I reacted quickly.

  “What are you talking about?” I said, clasping my hands together – mentally commanding Store on the Dematerializer. The device vanished between my palms just before they touched, right in time for a neat little clap.

  His eyes widened even further, but then he grinned, clapping his hands. “Well, I’ll be damned. Are you a street performer? That was incredible!”

  Meanwhile, my other cellmate – a woman who was clearly a junkie – shuddered in the corner of the cell, turning her face away from the “magic” in fear.

  Street performer…? Oh, fuck it. Sure.

  “Yeah. Something like that.” I said with a weak smile.

  “That was really impressive.” He continued, nodding eagerly. Then he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “But seriously…that was a Dematerializer, wasn’t it?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “Where would an Orlinth rat like me get a frickin’ Dematerializer? Don’t be ridiculous.”

  He still looked uncertain, so I leaned in and gestured toward the rusty celing above us.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “I think the iron’s getting to you.” I said. “Look at that. Pretty sure breathing in all that rust does things to the brain.”

  The man followed my finger, studied the ceiling seriously, then nodded like he’d never heard anything truer in his entire life. “Oh, yeah! I heard something like that too! It’s apparently even more dangerous with silver!”

  Relieved he was dumb enough to take the bait, I turned toward the bars, hoping to catch the eyes of an Enforcer passing by.

  “Don’t bother,” my cellmate said casually. “Those bastards shouldn’t be back for a while. Said something about a – what did they call it? Oh, right – a retirement send-off cake party for Major something-something.”

  I sighed, wondering how long it usually took me to escape this dump.

  “What are you in for?” The man asked suddenly, his tone oddly cheerful. “Did you pull a magic trick on some superstitious Enforcer?”

  Small talk with a random guy in a holding cell was the last thing I needed right now. But with no Enforcers in sight and no real burning desire to reach the Divine and my impending death there, I figured…why not.

  “One of the Enforcers here is my high school bully.” I said, sitting back on the metallic bed. “He rigged the Patrol Unit to flag me as a Libra terrorist.”

  The man’s eyes widened. “The lengths some bastards will go just to be cruel…”

  I nodded, memories of Devin’s teenage reign of terror resurfacing. Somehow, this wasn’t even the worst thing he’d done.

  The man suddenly stepped forward and held out a hand.

  “The name’s Harvey Leighton,” He said warmly. “And you are?”

  Unalarmed, I took his hand and gave it a shake, still unsure why he was so friendly to a stranger in a holding cell.

  “Viktor Halegrim.” I replied.

  Then, as if summoned by talking about him, Devin walked up to the cell.

  “Well, well, well. Making friends, are we, Halegrim?” He said, flashing his signature sadistic grin I’d seen far too many times.

  “Great, you’re here.” Leighton said, stepping toward the bars with all the poise of a Skyhavener. “Release me this instant. And make sure all my belongings are returned undamaged.”

  Devin chuckled. “Don’t worry, Mr. Leighton. Your identity is being confirmed as we speak. If you truly are a Skyhaven resident like you claim to be, we’ll let you go.”

  Then he turned to me sharply. “Halegrim, you, on the other hand, are still flagged as a Libra affiliate – until our system says otherwise.”

  Leighton’s gaze didn’t waver. Then, to my utter disbelief, he stepped in front of me and did something I never expected.

  “No, he is not.” Leighton said firmly, cutting through Devin’s cheap display of authority. “And I will have your entire station investigated for arresting not only me, but my personal assistant, and under such baseless accusations, no less?!”

  Devin faltered. His mouth opened, then shut again. Like he wanted to ask me if I was actually this guy's assistant but realized how stupid that sounded and backed off, just to try and ask again.

  “I – uh – you – what?”

  “I suggest,” Leighton continued, voice sharp, “you expedite whatever primitive systems you’re using in this hole and confirm my identity immediately. Because, Mr. – “ he leaned closer, squinting at Devin’s brass name tag, “ – Bolton…with every second we remain here, your chances of keeping your job drop faster.”

  Devin swallowed. Hard. Then spun on his heel and rushed out, no comeback in sight.

  I turned to Leighton, amazed. I hadn’t expected backup, let alone someone to explode on Devin on my behalf – especially not someone from Skyhaven.

  He just grinned at me. “Wait – he was the bully, right? Please tell me I didn’t just trash some random Enforcer by mistake.”

  ***

  Leighton’s identity was confirmed 15 minutes later.

  They released us both.

  I got my COG back from a bored Enforcer.

  It was just 8:27 – I could still make it to the morning assembly in the Divine.

  Leighton and I stepped out of the station together.

  “Listen, I don’t even know how to thank you.” I said, still in disbelief. I wondered if that’s how my mornings in previous loops went, but realized it was unlikely.

  It all started because Leighton had noticed the Dematerializer.

  “Eh, don’t mention it. I just really hate bullies.” He replied, grinning proudly. “And besides – what’s the point of being Second Assistant to Lady Caldra Huntington if I can’t flex my status and intimidate the law every now and then?”

  My confused expression apparently prompted him to keep talking. “You have no idea who Lady Caldra is, don't you?”

  I shook my head. “Solvane’s politics don’t interest me that much.”

  Leighton blinked in disbelief. “She’s the Head of House Education.”

  Okay…? A piece of information that changed literally nothing for me.

  Leighton sighed, clearly not expecting my complete lack of reaction. “Whatever. Anyway, where are you headed now, my friend? I need to get back to Skyhaven, but if there’s anything else I can help you with before we part, just say the word.”

  A lift to Skyhaven in a fancy airship would’ve been nice. Real nice. But…I’d already told him I was a street performer. Somehow, that lie ended up helping me. If I now admitted I was actually an inventor headed to the Divine, he might turn me back into the station purely out of being mad at me for lying. The man worked for an oligarch, after all.

  “No, I’ll be fine from here.” I said, reaching out my hand. “Thanks again for the help. Really. I appreciate it.”

  He shook my hand, nodding warmly. He tipped his hat, then turned and made his way in the direction of the Skyhaven Passenger Terminal.

  I, on the other hand, headed off in the opposite way – toward the West-Central Orlinth Cargo Dock.

  ***

  Wasted about half an hour in the Cargo Dock before they let me in on an airship.

  Arrived at Skyhaven.

  Made my way toward the Divine on foot.

  As I walked toward the Divine, my mind was in turmoil.

  The entire airship ride, I couldn’t stop thinking about the second time looper – the possibility it was Anastasia Wright, whoever she was.

  There was one realization I kept circling back to:

  Chronos told me that Erebus only marked people who caused major shifts compared to the original timeline.

  So I tried to define major and perhaps place it into a category.

  If the Divine was the epicenter of the Apocalypse – the place it all started – then logically, any major deviation would have to involve it. Stopping Valdemar’s attack, for example.

  Chronos’ example only solidified it for me – evacuating the people before the attack.

  The Divine was the key.

  Which meant, if Anastasia Wright was marked…then she’d done something in the Divine. Something big enough to change the course of the timeline and deviate it heavily compared to the original.

  What did she do? I couldn’t remember. Nor could I even tell if that happened when I was here. It could’ve happened during the run where I got the Dematerializer from Watson – unless I met him in the Divine as well, which was still plausible.

  Anyway, if I’m correct, I’d see Anastasia again. In the Divine.

  And when I did, I needed to be ready.

  She had a massive advantage over me – Chronos said Dolos’ Champions retained their memories. If she remembered previous loops, then she had knowledge I didn’t.

  I sighed as I passed the scan from the Enforcer outside the Divine’s front doors.

  Cleared to enter.

  I took a deep breath and steadied myself.

  Stick to the plan. Look for Anastasia. Observe. Try to figure out if she’s the second looper. Try to figure out if she was…Valdemar.

  Then I stepped inside.

  Instantly, the plan went to shit.

  At least twenty of the invited inventors were gathered for the Morning Assembly on the first floor, surrounded by the Expo’s staff members.

  Three of them stood out.

  A thick, dark aura coiled around their bodies, and a purple message visible only to me flashed above their heads:

  [This Unit is Marked by Darkness]

  None of them were Anastasia Wright.