Arc 5 | Chapter 169: The (Apparently Unknown!?) Truth of the Matter

“So, why are we here? Other than closure?” Emilia’s words were met with silence, no one at the table willing to voice what she’d already guessed at. Unfortunately for them, despite her appearance, Emilia was older than most of them, and while they had grown up in a stressful world, political machinations swirling around them, she had grown up in the midst of an active war.

If it came down to a battle of wills, patience, and knowing when to speak, she was going to win, even if she did have to kick Key under the table when the aether surrounding him began to bubble. He grimaced, but said nothing, only settling back in his chair and attempting something of a glare that came out more a pout. From the corner of her eye, Emilia caught Phlostra seemingly attempting not to laugh.

That was good, and bad. Emilia both knew the need for levity in the days following tragedy, as well as how those moments of mirth would lay on Phlostra’s heart. As much as the woman had clearly supported Ajarni at some point, she didn’t deserve to regret these moments.

“Fine,” she said, when no one volunteered why the three of them had been brought inside. “Shall I tell you why we were seeking you out, or my theories of why you let us in so easily?”

The group shifted ever so slightly, nervous energy rustling through the room. The latter it was then—there was nothing quite so off-putting as your motives being deciphered by someone, especially someone who knew barely anything about your world and circumstances.

“You’re all older, most into your sixties, if my guesses at how aging works in this world are correct. I already know Phlostra wasn’t born into Clarity, but came in later. I’m guessing that the rest of you are the same: you came from elsewhere and had already touched heartcores through Risen Guard or Enclave training. As result, the distinct personalities bestowed by those heartcores had already taken root inside you, even if only the smallest amount—which, might I say, it is wild that the heartcores give your altered personalities different characteristics based on which group you’re currently associating with?”

A ripple of private conversation settled over the table, and she wondered how much the people in this room knew of the distinct personalities, her aethervoice reading skill picking up bits and pieces of their conversion and concluding their knowledge had at least been better than her two companions. Rin had known about the differences, but it had been clear that she only knew from what she had learned from Harmony or seen reflected in both her friend and Sk’lar’s personalities. Key had known next to nothing about it, having actually assumed that regular Enclave training turned members into the zealots he was familiar with.

Once the room had settled, Emilia continued, telling the group that she was assuming the people at the table had two heartcore personalities interacting with each other, limiting the full effect of the hive mind. Honestly, this was a pretty big jump in logic, based on what she knew of Phlostra and the strange way this group was behaving, but when several members nodded, she knew she’s followed her gut to the right conclusion. Awkwardly, a few of the other members looked around nervously, as though they had only just been informed of why they were the way they were. It must be rough, to learn such things under these circumstances and at such an age.

⸂I was born into the group,⸃ one man said—the one with the too scratchy voice Emilia had previously been unable to locate. Now, he still didn’t give himself away, but she had been paying more attention and her eyes shot to him.

If he was startled by her location of him, he gave no indication of it, continuing to stare passively at her through dark black eyes. Overall, he was a tidy, almost unassuming man. He was also one of the older members of the group, his hair having long turned grey.

“I have a guess on that front, at least in your case.”

The man’s eyebrows moved, the only sign that he was even listening to her words. ⸂Go on.⸃

“My guess is you were a spy, one who came to agree more with the other group’s beliefs than Clarity’s.”

The private conversations that had been gently bouncing through the room stilled, all eyes turning between her and the man.

⸂Why do you think that?⸃ someone else asked, their shoulders tensing when Emilia shrugged.

“Like I said, it’s just a guess. From what I understand, most heartcores affect people based on which group they’re associated with. There are some exceptions… maybe. I mean, I know of at least one person who seems to have become something else entirely after touching a heartcore, but they could very well have disagreed with the Risen Guard’s opinions at that point, for all I know. For them, touching it might have always been destined to let something completely new into them, if they had no clear alliance.”

⸂Harmony’s enclave personality took precedence over anything she might have normally gained as a Risen Guard trainee,⸃ Rin said, nodding slowly. ⸂She definitely believes the Enclave’s teachings over the Risen Guard’s, but if she hadn’t… When we went to that first heartcore, she was worried about

interactions.

When I asked about it, she mentioned former spies.⸃

⸂Uh, yeah… There are stories in the Enclave about spies who went crazy—well, even crazier—due to what happened during their Risen Guard training. I didn’t realize it had to do with the heartcores, but we’ve always been warned away from labyrinths and heartcores…⸃ Key trailed off, looking troubled.

Emilia wanted to ask him what was bothering him, although she could guess: the secrets that had been kept from him. He had clearly shared secrets with his sister, but obviously, she hadn’t shared all of hers. That probably hurt, even if he had recently betrayed her, if on a much smaller scale.

“So,” she asked, turning back to the man and turning her eyes between the few other members of the group who had shown no reaction to her first guess, “am I right?”

⸂I wouldn’t say I completely agreed with the Risen Guard,⸃ one of the women said, fingers tapping idly over the table. ⸂However, I definitely understood their arguments at times. They could be very convincing.⸃ Her mouth twisted into a wry smile as she admitted that while it hadn’t happened in many decades, there had been a time when something entirely different seemed to emerge from her. ⸂Once I returned to Clarity and finished my initiation labyrinths here, it settled. I thought that perhaps it was completely gone.⸃

⸂Even if it is gone,⸃ a younger man said, stroking his scruffy looking beard as he stared Emilia down, ⸂it is possible it interfered with the hive mind, like the girl suggests.⸃

Suggests?

“Wait… are you implying you guys didn’t know? Like… none of you even had an inkling something was weird?” Emilia turned wide eyes between each member of the group. She might have already realized at least a few of them weren’t aware of the what and why behind their subdued connection to the hive mind, but this seemed more like none of them had known? The group, at the very least, had the decency to look a little embarrassed.

⸂The true effects of heartcores are not well known. I’m surprised you know of them.⸃

Emilia quickly fired off a message to Boundary, asking if he thought the knowledge wasn’t widely spread. He had been the one to confirm most of her suspicions, adding in his own thoughts on the matter. If he knew, others must. That said, it was clear from various bits of information she’d learned about him that he wasn’t a normal Risen Guard—hadn’t he said he came from a Risen Guard family? Maybe knowledge was shared more openly between them, or even just higher ranking Risen Guard?

“Well… I do,” Emilia said, rambling off an abbreviated version of what she knew. Many of the members nodded, that same look of pieces falling into place crossing their faces. What a strange position to be in, giving these people who looked liable to die any day facts about their lives and personalities, something that obviously meant a lot to more than a few of them—not all of them, although the ones who barely seemed affected by her words seemingly weren’t affected by anything she said. That was part of what had clued her in that at least a few had been spies: too much control of their reactions.

⸂That doesn’t explain why you think we invited you in,⸃ Phlostra said, a note of restrained amusement in her voice as she prompted Emilia to continue.

Emilia didn’t know why the woman wasn’t just telling them why they had been brought in, although she had a few ideas on the subject. She’d led enough interviews with perspective members of their unit to know how they went: with her sitting by, waiting for the other members of their interview panel—although it had never been anything so formal—to approve of the person.

New members had to prove themselves. This felt like that—like Phlostra was giving her a chance to prove why the group should trust her. That was… strange, if also kind and encouraging. They’d only really spent a few hours together, while walking into the Clarity City System. Granted, aside from a few moments where she’d been more interested in messaging Boundary, they’d spent the entire time chatting about this and that.

Perhaps something in those conversations had convinced Phlostra that she could be trusted, or perhaps it was the fact that she’d managed to find allies among so many groups—somehow managing to get them to work together, no less. It could have been the woman’s gift as well—the one that seemed to tell her some amount of unspoken words within a person, although Emilia still had no idea if Phlostra really had such a gift. Then again, it could be simple desperation and the fact that she was there, trying to fight against a group this collection of Clarity rebels had suddenly turned against.

“I think you invited us in because those holes in the hive mind’s control mean you feel the betrayal of this all the more harshly. You trusted Ajarni with your friends and family, and he sacrificed them for no reason.” Emilia shook herself, letting her eyes fall closed as she sucked in a grounding breath, her mind flittering back to the night—to her perception of the Clarity members in their group, and their alternate personalities. “I only saw the hive mind for moments, in both that meeting and the mission. To me, it seemed like Ajarni could have just asked them to sacrifice themselves for the good of the world. I think almost everyone would have said yes, and I don’t understand why he didn’t.”

Eyes flickering back open, she saw the same concerns and confusion echoed on many of the faces around her. “When they killed Jerrina, the Ingogia family was just as confused. They asked why Ajarni would send them someone like her. She was too dangerous, and they had to kill her. I think something else is going on, and I think you all know it. I don’t know how much you knew about Ajarni and his ties to the Enclave, or even how much you knew about the mission and what the point of it was. I think you knew most of us wouldn’t be coming back, but I know you didn’t think it would be like this. I know you would have given your lives up for your children and friends, had you known the real purpose of the mission, even without the control of the hive mind.”

Emotion flashed through more than a few of their faces. They swallowed, looked away, shifted in their seats because that was the crux of the issue: they were old, and would die soon anyways. They would have easily given up their lives, not through the force of the hive mind, but simply because their lives were worth less than their children’s—less than the world they wished to create with the help of visitors.

“I think you invited us in because you know something is wrong, and while you couldn’t save the people who went on the mission, you can save those who remain.” Emilia smiled, as truly as she could. “And I think that regardless of anything, you do want this world to be better. I don’t know if I or any other visitor can do that for you, but I know I and at least a few others are willing to try. At the very least, Ajarni and whatever terrible things he’s planning? Whether it's to turn everyone into sacrifices or warriors or canon fodder for a war between the Enclave and Risen Guard or something we can’t even guess at—he needs to be stopped. If he isn’t, the peaceful world you all want for the future won’t exist, and I think you know that.”

Emilia leaned back in her chair, having slowly leaned in towards the others during her speak.

The Clarity members glanced between one another, looking but never speaking, some entirely silent conversation occurring between them before nearly all of them nodded. A few didn’t, but they were already the ones who barely moved, so Emilia wasn’t taking their lack of physical confirmation of their acceptance of her to heart.

She always had been good at convincing people to go along with her.

⸂I will sacrifice myself for your system access.⸃

Emilia’s head whipped towards Phlostra, sitting calmly, like she hadn’t just offered up her life on the slim chance that her death might help save the world—might earn the woman her revenge on Ajarni.