My body was numb when I woke up. My blurry vision burned under the light shining straight into my eyes. In front of me there was a wall, and the woman — Alex — was chained to it with glowing restraints. A man and a woman stood beside her, blades pressed against her neck.

  A strong smell filled the room. It was putrid and clean at the same time, like an abandoned medical clinic. The odor of sickness and death mixed with chlorine and pine disinfectant. The strongest concentration seemed to come from the floor, but I still couldn’t see clearly.

  The woman holding the dagger was older, somewhere between 30 and 40 — hard to tell under the dim lighting. Her hair was cut extremely short. She wore tactical gear far more prepared than the girl I fought earlier: more pockets, a ballistic vest covering her whole torso, even her neck wrapped in thick fabric. The colors were different too — red and white instead of the other girl’s black.

  The man wore the same uniform, the only difference being a beret with a symbol. The same one from the girl’s badge: a two-headed eagle.

  When I recovered some movement, I tried to move. The chains holding Alex were also on me. Something told me not to force it.

  These chains emit waves too…

  Twenty waves. That was the sequence I received when I looked at the guard in front of me. From the woman I felt only fifteen. But they weren’t the ones making me uneasy. There was someone else in the room.

  They’re strong… definitely… but what the hell is in this room?!

  Behind me came a sickening pressure. My bones vibrated as if they were breaking into hundreds of pieces, one by one. It felt like being submerged in cement that was slowly hardening. The amount of waves was absurd — fifty all at once, at a speed I don’t even know how I counted.

  The presence felt like an entire battalion breathing down my neck. I could barely register anyone else in the room.

  None of them matter. You wipe them all out…

  I felt terrified. I didn’t dare say a single word until I heard the voice of the girl who attacked me.

  — “I don’t want to die here, Hierophant…

  No one reacted. The guards didn’t move their daggers even a centimeter, but whoever was behind me placed his feet on my back like I was a table.

  Alex kept going, stumbling over her own words while trying not to lose her breath.

  — “I’m a Liberated, and I know I can be useful. I haven’t done much, but I’ll be useful someday. I never imagined I’d run into a Walker!”

  Still no reaction. Her face was soaked in tears. The sadness and desperation were so loud I only now noticed her clothes: a school uniform, the kind worn by absurdly rich students, carmine red and gray with pearl details on the inside.

  Soon the weight lifted from my back. Every step increased my anxiety. He stood in front of me.

  Long robes like those from Ancient Greece, dyed unevenly in red, like paint mixed with blood. A massive black cloak with a trident drawn across the back. A crown shaped like a sun on his head.

  Everything pointed to someone completely different, but one detail scared me.

  He’s wearing a mask. The smell… is that made of human bones?!

  I had only seen it briefly: the mask was a skull made of human bone. Alex didn’t raise her head. Her eyes stayed fixed on the floor. Then I heard his voice.

  — “You are safe, Alex. I wouldn’t kill a Homo liberatus who can fight for us.”

  The voice was deep, masculine… and that was her name?

  — “Thank you, Lord Hieropha—”

  The man interrupted, placing a hand on her head. Alex immediately fell silent.

  — “If you can fight for us, you will live. If you can only fight for him, your head rolls here. Clear enough?”

  My body reacted on instinct. I started struggling against the chains. They burned even through the metallic scales. My mind screamed, and for a moment I slipped.

  — “My Wanderer won’t break…”

  — “So you finally showed your claws?”

  I hate that impulse…

  When he turned to face me, I saw his eyes. The Hierophant had no openings in the mask, yet his eyes still emitted raw darkness, like a vortex swallowing everything. When our gaze met, I saw an aura forming: thick black energy clinging to his skin and wrapping around his clothes.

  I’m going to be forced to talking

  — “Why am I chained?!”

  No answer. The Hierophant just stared. The mask’s face haunted me. Blood-red fabrics, black cloak, a skull for a face with a sun on its head. Too much symbolism to be ordinary.

  — “Why did you chain her?”

  Another step forward.

  — “Who are you?!

  Another step. The presence grew more intimidating. I genuinely felt like he wanted to kill me.

  — “What do you want with me?! Is it because I’m a hybrid?!”

  He kept approaching until he was a palm’s length away. The pressure was sickening.

  This is terrifying…

  — “You talk too much."

  Shit…

  The Hierophant turned his back to me but didn’t walk away. I stayed there in chains, staring at the back of someone who had absolutely no respect for me. Anger rose inside me, but the more I struggled, the more the chains hurt. Even burning, I kept fighting. The clanking echoed uselessly through the room.

  — “BASTARD! CAN SOMEONE ANSWER AT LEAST ONE OF MY QUESTIONS?!”

  The Hierophant remained with his back turned. None of the guards changed expression. Then he spoke to Alex.

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  — “Look into my eyes, Liberated.”

  Alex, reluctant and uncomfortable, raised her head. The chains on her neck began to burn. Groans of pain filled the room, but she held on as long as she could.

  — “You will prove to me that you still belong to the Mestar. If you fail, I will kill you. Easy to remember, isn’t it?”

  — “But Sir!”

  — “Enough, Alex Aurelius. If you can’t kill him, then you remain incompetent to me and to them.”

  Mestar? And why is she hesitating if she was willing to attack me before?

  — “Yes, Lord Hierophant. I will kill the walk–"

  Before she could finish, her body began twisting violently. Convulsions. Muscles warped beneath the fabric. Her voice broke, barely coming out.

  This is way too bizarre. Who’s doing this?

  My head pounded. The scene was sickening. The pain from the chains didn’t even compare. Before I could question it, the Hierophant spoke.

  — “Release her. Let her fight for herself.”

  The two guards answered in unison. The chains vanished. The blades lowered. Alex collapsed to the floor, nails scraping the cold resin.

  — “Go and kill him, Liberated. You should at least try.”

  I can’t accept this!

  — “Are you insane, you bastard?! Why torture someone who’s on your side?!”

  Silence. The Hierophant gestured with his hands. The guards left. The room lit up. Finally I could see everything.

  It was an interrogation room: white walls, resin floor. Inside the resin were bodies. Crushed. Skulls broken, arms flattened. On the walls, banners with the two-headed eagle and two crowns.

  Those corpses are real?

  The Hierophant turned to me.

  — “You are responsible for this.”

  — “I didn’t do anything! How do you assume that just because I look like a monster? You’re the one torturing her!”

  — “The torture exists because of you.”

  — “What the hell are you talking about?!”

  — “You made her your Wanderer, didn’t you?”

  I froze. I remembered the child. The ENN… I made her my Wanderer.

  I turned my eyes toward Alex. She convulsed, gaze delirious. Hatred flooded my body, but despair was stronger seeing her like that.

  I may not know you, but I know you don’t deserve this.

  — “What do I have to do to make her normal again?”

  — “Endure, I’d say.”

  — “Enough riddles, just say it!”

  — “I already did.”

  I swear I’ll kill you one day…

  Alex’s crying began, more like the gasp of someone dying. My chest filled with pity.

  — “FINE! WHAT DO I HAVE TO ENDURE?!”

  A long silence. The Hierophant watched. I kept insisting, arguing again and again. Then he placed something in front of me. A different smell… metal, but I couldn’t identify which kind.

  — “Choose. I can give you a gigantic quantity of this material. In any form and wherever you want.”

  Is this some kind of offer?

  — “In exchange, I want to kill Alex.”

  You’ve got to be kidding me. Of course I’m going to refuse!

  — “So then, monster?”

  — “…”

  — “I’ll give you time to think about it.”

  WHY DIDN’T I REFUSE?!

  My body reacted strangely to the metal. Scales shifted over my skin. My left serpent eye felt something strange. I couldn’t move to look at Alex. My gaze stayed locked on that nugget.

  My body needs that piece of metal. I need more of that metal, but I’ll never be crazy enough to let Alex die.

  She was different from the others. Stronger. I didn’t know what to do, but I wouldn’t let a seemingly innocent girl suffer just because I existed.

  A storm of thoughts:

  I want it, I want it

  I have to save Alex

  I don’t even know this girl!

  I put her in this situation

  The object clearly has far more value!

  No human life has less value than a piece of metal.

  She’s incompetent to save herself, so I should profit here!

  Even I was shocked. I had robbed many people. Many died because of my greed. I believed it was right — the world was full of selfish people — but that was never true. It was never fair to take from others. Never fair to kill dreams for pocket change.

  THEN WHY IS IT SO HARD TO SPEAK?

  I began forcing myself against the chains. I forced pain onto myself. Burned my neck over the scales until I reached skin. The pain was unbearable.

  — “DAMNED BODY!”

  The Hierophant turned, surprised. I wouldn’t repeat the mistakes of my past life. I wouldn’t walk out of there alive. I wouldn’t carry guilt for a ridiculous choice in a hostile world.

  — “I REFUSE!”

  Even wanting to save her, my body demanded possessions. I needed reward. I would never accept jewels. I fought until deep blood poured from my neck.

  THE RISK OF DEATH IS WORTH IT. THIS HAS TO WORK.

  I suppressed the impulse with extreme pain. When I reached my limit, I stopped. I had thought enough.

  — “Hierophant…”

  — “Well?”

  — “Go to hell…”

  He stepped closer. The chains didn’t hurt as much now. He extended a necklace with the jewel. The stimulus was powerful.

  I WANT IT!

  But I refused. I bit it, snapping the cord and spitting it onto the floor.

  — “I WANT MY WANDERER, NOW!”

  Seconds passed. The Hierophant watched. It was a brutal gamble. I lost something valuable, but she was valuable too.

  He spoke again.

  — “She tried to kill you. That’s why she’s on the floor.”

  — “What?!”

  — “Being a Wanderer means belonging to a master.”

  So he wasn’t lying… this is my fault.

  — “What do I do to stop it?”

  — “Being a Wanderer means being a slave. She cannot refuse direct orders nor threaten your evolution.”

  — “HOW DO I STOP THIS?!”

  — “And she betrayed you the moment she intended to end your life for the sake of hers.”

  — “JUST ANSWER ME, DAMN IT!”

  — “What use is a girl who betrayed two people today?”

  Two? What is he talking about?

  — “Explain.”

  Silence. He gestured. My chains vanished. The guards watched us from outside.

  — “Alex ran away from the unit we’re in, disobeying a law, in order to reach you.”

  — “And what does that have to do with me?”

  — “She tried to prove herself by taking shortcuts, then failed to face you, failed to respect us, and now fails to protect you.”

  — “AND WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ME?!”

  None of that matters to me. I wouldn’t have acted differently.

  — “Do you think she has any value in the state she’s in?”

  — “Don’t get it wrong, Hierophant… if we had switched positions, I would’ve tried to kill her before you even finished asking.”

  — “I see.”

  The Hierophant took the metal back and threw it in the trash. Huge relief. Then he pointed at Alex.

  — “What is your name, Walker?”

  — “Why do you care?”

  — “If you don’t want to give me a name, invent one.”

  — “And why would I do that?”

  — “The longer you stall, the longer your Wanderer suffers.”

  I thought for a long time. I wouldn’t use my old name. That person was dead. Carrying sins made no sense. It was a new start, however ugly it was. I chose something from my ENN.

  — “My name is Cramdopeu.”

  — “And your surname?”

  He doesn’t even question the name?!

  — “Uh… I don’t have one.”

  — “Maledictus, then.”

  — “What does that mean?”

  — “Cursed. Or Accursed. Pick whichever you prefer.”

  FINALLY ANSWERED SOMETHING!

  A document slid under the door.

  — “It’s yours, Cramdopeu Maledictus.”

  I picked it up without questioning. It looked like some kind of registration. A photo of my face and a flower symbol.

  A flower? Like the ones I saw?

  The Hierophant said:

  — “Welcome to the Special Unit Daciens Reverole Mestar. Report to this same room tomorrow. Otherwise we will kill you and your Wanderer.”

  — “Will I at least understand what this represents?”

  — “To free your servant from suffering, simply forgive her directly.”

  Yeah… back to square one.

  I never knew how to forgive people. I never received apologies. I was the worst among them all. I never felt worthy of forgiving anyone.

  What can I do?

  — “Alex…”

  She remained paralyzed and suffering. Surprising she hadn’t fainted yet.

  — “I absolve you of your sins, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

  It was the best I could do, Alex. Sorry.

  The convulsions stopped. Alex let out a desperate scream, like a release. She refused to raise her head. She kept staring at the floor until her tears blurred the resin beneath her.

  Is that shame or pain? Must’ve been hard.

  She cried for a long time. During all of it, I didn’t move away. My body pulsed. Blood boiled. I wanted to kill that masked man, but my heart had to swallow it.

  I would die.

  After the screams and sobbing, Alex smiled at me and fainted.

  — “Alex!”

  — “She’ll be fine. She’s just tired.”

  — “And the burns?!”

  — “Hospital.”

  — “Is that where I’ll be treated?”

  — “That’s where she’ll be treated. You’ll regenerate after a night’s sleep.”

  Regenerate? Wounds like this heal easily for me?

  — “Don’t take too long, Cramdopeu. I don’t know what you’ll do with your new toy, but she’s your responsibility and may be scarred if not properly cared for.”

  This bastard talks like she’s a plush doll?!

  My face showed automatic discomfort. The Hierophant didn’t react. The doors opened. He walked out without another word. The guards rushed to grab Alex.

  The older woman cried while hugging her. The man looked worried too. They dropped their weapons. The woman lifted Alex and ran to the hospital. The man, before leaving, glanced over his shoulder.

  — “Good luck, Cramdopeu.”

  That’s not much… but I get it.

  I felt relieved. I didn’t ask where the hospital was. I don’t know where I’ll sleep or what they’ll do to Alex when she wakes up. Desperation left my body aching. I need to take care of myself. All that’s left is to walk and see what I find.

  But what was that book?