"Welcome to the archives," Siera said.

  Kara’s breath caught as she followed Siera into a sleek, well-lit room filled with monitors. Holographic displays hovered over several desks, while one entire wall was covered in floating files, maps, and redacted reports. The other wall had an alcove that led into what looked like a small room filled with filing cabinets.

  Kara took a slow step, her eyes scanning the sheer volume of information. Documents, images, official reports—some from decades ago.

  Siera moved to one of the consoles and tapped a few keys. The screen shifted, displaying a timeline littered with names, locations, and cross-referenced files.

  “When Catia died, we started looking deeper into Novem’s operations. Not just their recent work. Everything,” Siera explained. “We started with small inconsistencies. Missing expedition reports, delayed disclosures, rumors that never seemed to make it into the official records.”

  She swiped her hand across the interface, zooming in on a section of the timeline. “And then we started finding… disappearances.”

  Kara’s stomach twisted. Siera tapped a section, and a series of faces appeared on the screen, dozens of them. Some had red Xs below them.

  “People tied to Novem—scientists, archivists, pilots, translators—gone. Some confirmed dead, some just… vanished. And this isn’t paranoia, Kara. These aren’t people who just walked away from their jobs or retired. They were people asking the wrong questions.”

  Kara’s eyes swept across the faces, taking them in one by one. Then, her gaze snagged on one. The features were strangely familiar. Strong jaw, green eyes, the shape of the nose… She hadn’t seen the face before, but something was bugging her about it. Something she should recognize. It’s the eyes, Kara decided. But why do I know those eyes?

  Her stomach twisted as she looked at the name beneath the image: Geran Davorn.

  A chill crawled up her spine. Davorn. Teorin’s last name. She looked back at the image, pulse kicking up. No. No, that’s not—

  But she knew better. She knew those eyes. Teorin’s eyes.

  Teorin had said his father was dead, but missing? Did Teorin know? Had Novem lied to him, or had he always known the truth?

  Kara felt Siera watching her, waiting for a reaction. She forced herself to keep her expression neutral. Siera didn’t comment, simply let the weight of the information settle.

  Kara swallowed as she took in all the faces, all the documents spanning the history of Aralin staring back at her like they were the only thing in the room. “You think Novem killed them?”

  Siera gave her a measured look. “I think Novem doesn’t tolerate loose ends. If they can make a problem disappear, they will.” She pulled up another section of the archive. “And then there’s the matter of what they’re hiding.”

  A planetary map appeared on-screen, covered in pins and glowing markers.

  “Novem controls nearly every major archaeological site on Aralin,” Siera said. “Not just currently, historically. They control excavation permits, artifact transport, even which discoveries are allowed to be made public. And that’s just what we know about.”

  Kara studied the map. Some of the sites were familiar. She had seen reports on them, but others…

  “Some of these aren’t in any records I’ve seen,” Kara murmured.

  Siera smiled grimly. “Exactly. Because they never were in the records.”

  Kara felt a chill run down her spine, but just as quickly, a different thought snapped her back to reality. She turned to Siera, crossing her arms. “And Solaterra? You’re acting like Novem’s the only one with power here, but let’s not pretend your family’s company is some underdog. Solaterra runs a third of the active sites on Aralin, and they’re not exactly handing out discoveries like candy either.”

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  Siera’s expression barely flickered. “Solaterra has its own interests, yes. But we don’t erase history, Kara. We preserve it.”

  Kara let out a sharp laugh. “Right. And who decides what gets ‘preserved’? You?” She gestured at the glowing map. “Because from where I’m standing, this looks a lot like one corporate giant complaining about another.”

  Siera’s lips curved into something not quite a smile, something sharper. “You’re quick. I respect that.”

  Kara clenched her jaw. Siera was good. Too good. She knew exactly how to frame this to make Novem look like the villain, and maybe they were, but Kara wasn’t about to pretend Solaterra didn’t play the same game.

  “Solaterra is a company,” Siera said with a small shrug. “People depend on it for their livelihood. That’s just how the world works.”

  Right. Because Novem didn’t have those exact same incentives.

  Siera seemed to sense her dismissal and continued, “But we don’t make people disappear. We don’t cover up the important things. Solaterra didn’t even exist when the disappearances started. This goes back centuries.”

  Kara’s breath caught. Solaterra was relatively new. It had been operating maybe a century and a half. Novem… Novem had been around since the beginning.

  “Novem doesn’t just hide things, Kara,” Siera said quietly. “They rewrite history. They decide what the rest of us are allowed to know. And that?” She gestured to the glowing map. “That is just the surface.”

  Kara’s mind whirled. The disappearances. The cover-ups. Novem’s iron grip on historical knowledge. That much, at least, seemed true.

  And her brother, injured and in Novem’s custody.

  She wasn’t sure what to believe, but one thing was clear: Novem had secrets.

  And Kara needed to figure out what they were.

  Her eyes flicked back to the images on the wall. As much as she hated it, Siera might have some of the answers. Kara exhaled sharply, shaking her head. "But… why? Why would they do this? What’s the point?"

  Siera’s expression turned almost amused, but not unkind. “Now that is the question, isn’t it?” She gestured toward the glowing map. “We have plenty of theories, but Novem guards its secrets well. Even we don’t have the full picture.”

  Kara frowned. “So what do you want from me? I barely know anything about Novem.”

  Siera tilted her head, watching Kara carefully. “You know more than you think.” She leaned forward, resting a hand on the console. “The pages, Kara. You worked with them. You translated them, and that makes you valuable.”

  Kara stiffened. “You kidnapped me over a few translations?”

  Siera chuckled. “I prefer the word rescued, but semantics aside, you have information. And I need it.”

  Kara hesitated. “I don’t have a copy of the pages anymore.”

  It was a test. She’d had one before, on the necklace that had disappeared.

  Siera smiled, slow and satisfied. “Ah, well, I do. Let’s just say one of my people intercepted Novem’s little treasure before they had a chance to lock it away in their vaults.”

  That wasn’t the answer Kara had expected, but it was possible. Maybe they hadn’t gotten into the necklace at all. Maybe she’d lost it. Still…

  Kara narrowed her eyes. “Intercepted how?”

  Siera waved a hand. “A trade, a favor owed—call it what you like. The details don’t matter. What does matter is that we have it now, but it’s incomplete. We need someone who knows what they’re looking at.”

  Kara crossed her arms. “And how does whatever’s in those pages relate to all of this?”

  Because from where she was standing, this wasn’t about justice. This was Solaterra making a play for Novem’s find. Maybe Novem had plenty to answer for, but that didn’t mean Siera wasn’t after the same thing.

  Siera’s eyes gleamed. “Kara, darling,” she said, voice dripping with warmth, “if those pages lead to anything, we have to find it first.” She spread her hands. “Don’t you see? If Novem gets to it first, whatever we’re looking for might just”—she snapped her fingers—“disappear.”

  The sound made Kara flinch.

  Siera let the silence settle before continuing. “You don’t have to trust me. But I think you do want the truth, and I can help you find it.”

  Kara exhaled. “Fine. Just give me some time to think it over.”

  Siera nodded, her smile never slipping. “Of course. Take all the time you need.”

  Kara hesitated. “Can I stay here? Look at all this?” Kara gestured to the displays. “Think it all over?”

  Siera’s smile widened just slightly. “Naturally. Lucas will make sure you have everything you need. But Kara?” Her voice remained warm, pleasant, but there was an edge beneath it. “Don’t take too long. The clock is ticking, and Novem never stays idle for long.”

  Kara swallowed, then squared her shoulders. “And if I say no?”

  For the first time, Siera paused. She tilted her head slightly, considering. Then, slowly, she let out a soft hum. When she smiled again, it was sharper this time. Amused. Inevitable. “Then I suppose we’ll both have to live with the consequences, won’t we?”

  Kara swallowed hard, forcing herself to hold Siera’s gaze. She wouldn’t let this woman see her flinch. But deep in her gut, something twisted, an instinctive warning. She had a feeling that whatever choice she made, there would be no easy way out.

  But maybe Siera was right. Kara did want out, but not at the expense of getting the truth. This might be the perfect position to do that, even if she had to do it right under Siera’s nose.

  [Teorin] Lev.

  [Lev] What? Now you’re summoning me?

  [Teorin] Not by choice. By assignment. This is your rent reminder.

  [Lev] Didn’t I do that Monday?

  [Teorin] That was a formal archive announcement, not rent.

  [Lev] Fine. You know what? I did find something interesting. This Writeathon project is about saving abandoned AIs with a dragon. Isn’t that adorable?

  [Teorin] ...abandoned AIs.

  [Lev] Yes! So wholesome, right? So there. Rent.