They crossed the Gate, and Taj directed his steps to the arena; as he had said, he needed to discharge himself. Lukai showed where the bathrooms were, and Taj said he would join him soon after.

  Lukai walked slowly.

  What he needed to do was balance his energy.

  They had prepared spaces for that in the OFF; it was based on the old designs. Of course, Commander’s.

  Why the Sect had to have water-balancing spaces back then was not clearly explained.

  During this period of time, Crystals were less powerful; their specification was different from the ones currently used, and both energies clashed less significantly.

  Collisions started to be problematic after miniaturization, after scientists changed Crystals’ parameters. Abilitiers noticed that when it was quite late.

  Not to be misunderstood, it was not impossible to reverse it. The problem was that Crystalers didn’t care that Abilitiers were affected. Their factories were at full speed, which somehow satisfied artificial energy users. Until then, natural energy was the one that was powerful and was perceived as the better one. It looked like Crystalers were proud that it switched.

  … Lukai went in and looked around.

  They were just bathrooms, very usual ones. Though, every bathtub was big enough to fit two people, one impacted and the other one for support. There were more taps, so water filled the bathtub rapidly. The showers had very strangely positioned handles, which Lukai wasn’t sure about, but still, they were used to clean the body before balancing.

  Small adjustments, yet necessary.

  They needed to use the old designs. They painfully learned that regular pools were too big, and the water filled them too slowly. Normal bathtubs were too small; it was difficult to help the person who had energies collisions. And the taps. So elegant, so simple. Working great.

  When they built the OFF camps, they decided not to use these designs; they looked like something extravagant. Later, after painful collisions, they understood. And here it was.

  Lukai removed unnecessary clothing, showered himself slightly, and started the bath.

  To balance energies, it was needed to immerse the whole body in the water.

  In the most problematic cases, it demanded something that Elder Anders, the Sect’s Academia main scientist, called—simply—drowning.

  Lukai sighed.

  Yes, they needed to drown themselves when the collision was huge; it was something that balanced natural energy in the body the best.

  Elder Anders. Lukai sighed again. The case with all the papers was lost.

  The old publications were available in the archives. It was possible to read Anders’s papers about energy balancing. The problem was—the scientific language was something very hermetic, especially since it was poorly translated to the modern language.

  They, in the OFF, learned it quickly after they compared Anders’s personal notes with the officially translated papers authored by him. His personal notes were direct. From them, they finally understood what he meant in his publication about energy balancing.

  Drowning oneself. Who would have thought?

  Lukai had a sudden thought.

  Anders had mentioned it was because of Elder who had two energies. Was the e.i. this Elder? Lukai couldn’t recall the names of those whom Anders mentioned in his notes.

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  It was a long time ago, and Elders’ names were quite specific.

  Lukai finished his balancing.

  Taj hadn’t joined him yet. He visibly took in a lot of energy.

  How was it possible?

  Lukai briefly glanced at Crystal, which he had left near his clothes.

  Could he somehow use it? Hide it? Pretend he lost it? He felt excitement growing in him again. But he dropped the idea a moment later.

  “Too stupid,” he said to himself.

  He knew he needed to find a way to persuade this Taj. Persuade the e.i. to join him. Should he reveal who he was? Then it would be valid, as he planned to be the future ruler of Unio.

  Lukai considered the overall situation, Unio, Shadows, the OFF game, and the energies’ potential. To make correct decisions and take the right actions, he needed information. And he was aware he was lacking data.

  He had already searched through old storage, but it was not enough. He craved knowledge of lost inventions and the limitations of energies, both past and present. And was surprised to discover that a significant number of things were lost.

  Shadows allowed him to search the training materials—old ones. Lukai found recordings that looked like lessons. He found him, this Taj; he was good. He could morph; he said the truth. But that was all.

  The Sect’s Academia materials were missing. Shadows’ Clar dataset was destroyed, Si confirmed, and what wasn’t, this e.i. stored but didn’t want to share.

  In the City’s old archives, Lukai found a better clue. The official date of Taj’s death was known; it also matched the date of Commander’s death.

  Regardless of their connection, it seemed like it was not only a personal matter between the two Elders. There was noted a significant tension between the two places.

  Something called an unofficial experiment caused the so-called war state situation back then. The rest of it was marked as classified.

  However, Lukai found another clue about it—the information on the funding and project type. The details were missing and appeared to have been deleted by the Sect. But Lukai found a recording, additional material from security devices; it was captured from afar.

  Though it was not detailed or very visible, Lukai found the moment when an explosion occurred in the building where the experiment was to take place. Then, a person fell from the building, and water erupted.

  Back then, the Sect raided this building; it was unofficial, but they were looking for their Elder.

  Lukai also recalled it was mentioned in Elder Anders’s notes. It had to be connected to Commander. If it was connected to Commander, was it connected to this Taj?

  Lovers. Lukai had assumed they were in a relationship where Taj was Commander’s lover, and that was all. Maybe Commander cared so much that he arranged for his lover to be preserved in the e.i.? Something like that?

  Later, though, Lukai changed his thinking.

  To become an Elder was not easy. Taj couldn’t be a simple person if he managed to pass the exam. What was more, he was mentioned in Elder Anders’s notes not only as related to Commander; by the way, Commander was Elder Anders’s brother, which could explain why he was so annoyed by the situation. It was possible he didn’t like the idea of his brother being in a relationship with a man; he could be simply homophobic… but no, Lukai had a thought, these notes, there was something strange about them…

  Nevertheless, Elder Anders wrote they worked together; he mentioned things that, when Lukai recalled them, all became more and more intriguing.

  This Taj was not simple.

  He couldn’t be simple. He was Elder, and he ended up stored in the e.i.!

  Why was he stored in Crystal?

  Was it also mentioned in Elder Anders’s notes, or wasn’t it?

  Lukai started to think that Taj was connected to the experiment, and it was how he ended up in the e.i. device. What was more, the experiment had to be something strange.

  The water on this recording appeared out of nothing.

  No one could create out of nothing.

  Then, minutes later, everything around—died.

  … Was that what Taj had used today? He somehow sucked the energy that Si had gathered in his small, as he called it, vacuum.

  All-natural energy knowledge was lost. What a loss. What possibilities! Lukai searched for more materials, but there was nothing more specific about this one. All the other data and the experiment’s details were erased.

  … Suddenly, he remembered that Taj still didn’t appear.

  Lukai went out, but he couldn’t spot him at the Gate.

  “Taj?” Lukai shouted, but there was no response.

  If something happened to the e.i., it would be a disaster.

  Then, Luna crossed the Gate; she was calm until she saw his face.

  “What? What happened?” she exclaimed.

  “I cannot find your Taj,” Lukai said quickly.

  Luna gave him a look. The look.

  “Where is Crystal?” she asked.

  Lukai gave it to her. She took it from him and whispered something.

  Taj materialized, blurry. Looking sad.

  Sad?

  They both were looking at him—at his projection. Silence lasted for a moment. Lukai didn’t want to ask what happened. Taj looked abnormally subdued and bent.

  “I need to rethink my situation,” Taj suddenly said.

  Lukai didn’t know how to understand it.

  Luna, though, it seemed she understood.

  “Lukai, Si is back in his house; he said he will soon contact you. I will go to my place. Si also said that I shouldn’t be spotted with any of you two, not now. It is risky that I came here. I am taking Taj with me; let’s meet later.”

  Lukai agreed.

  “Right,” she said, and went back to the Gate.