Chapter 103: Book 2: Slipping Away

Chapter 103: Book 2: Slipping Away

To say that Whisper is angry is an understatement. I can see the color of her anger turning her Firmament with a dark, stained crimson. It's so strong it's impacting the nature of her skills, even without having to use something like Hueshift; I can feel her anger like it's heat against my skin, and I shift back out of Phaseslip to avoid it.

"I forgot how arrogant you Trialgoers can get," she sneers at me.

I cock my head. "Aren't you a Trialgoer too?"

The sound she makes is unintelligible, either because she isn't saying anything in particular or because it's too warped for the Interface to make sense of it. She has enough self-restraint, thankfully, to not immediately fire a beam of Firmament at me — out here in the slums of Isthanok, an attack like that would cause devastating casualties.

It occurs to me, perhaps a little late, that provoking her in the midst of a civilian-populated area is probably not the best of ideas.

But it's also the only thing giving me an advantage. For all of Whisper's faults, she seems hesitant to damage her beloved city. Her perfectionism seems to extend even to this more run-down part of Isthanok. I can see the way her eyes dart between the buildings next to me and behind me, as if trying to figure out if she can launch an attack without destroying a part of her city.

The answer, apparently, is that she cannot. And that tells me quite a bit about her capabilities all on its own.

"Why are you even lettingthe Integrators do this?" I ask. "Hestia isn't growing. It's held more than three hundred Trials without any Trialgoer succeeding. Your entire planet is just going through the motions. What's the point?"

"Isthanok isn't perfect yet," Whisper says coldly. "If the time comes, I will free Hestia myself. But not before I fix everything."

"That's a better answer than I expected," I say. "It's still a bad answer, though."

It takes me a second, but I realize why Whisper isn't doing anything. The Firmament around and behind her is slightly distorted, the distortion just barely visible because it doesn't follow the same gradient of density the rest of the Firmament in the area carries; I remember abruptly the frog-like creature that tried to assassinate me in one of the past loops.

If I'm not missing any of them, there are three of them gathered behind her, each of them aiming a Firmament weapon at me and ready to fire. I keep myself tensed — they're Firmament-based attacks, so it's not something I can just Phaseslip through. A Warpstep will get me out of the way if they're too fast to dodge conventionally.

But I'm realizing I don't like what I'm doing here.

I'm reacting. Whisper is making the first moves — right now, she has the advantage. She knows I'm a Trialgoer, and she knows enough to go after Miktik, even if she apparently doesn't know what I look like or who I am. She should have sent a message back to herself as soon as she sees me, but I haven't seen her look for or interact with the Interface, nor sensed the telltale Firmament associated with it.

I remember an idea I had a few loops back.

I need to make sure I have the information advantage.

The thought settles quickly into a plan.

Hey, Ahkelios. I send the thought through our bond, and I feel the little mantis reacting, stiffening on my shoulder. Whisper hasn't reacted or taken notice of him yet — it's something she's been pretty consistent about. She just doesn't take notice of him. I need you to be ready to kill me.

You what? Ahkelios's startled response rings through our bond. Ethan, I don't know if it's a good idea for you to—

—Doesn't matter for now, I interrupt. Look, I need the information advantage on Whisper. I need to make sure she has the wrong idea of what I want and what I'm doing. There's only one way to do that, and it's to make sure she sends back the information I want her to send back.

It's enough.

"You want to know what I'm planning?" I ask. I wince a bit as I speak, feeling the burn of Whisper's Firmament grow; to lessen the strain, I mix in a bit of the truth. "I want to go to the Craven Arena and win some points. You know, considering you upgraded the rewards so much."

I pause for a moment to consider how much convincing Whisper will need. I've been to the Craven Arena a few times now, although I've only met the Ringmaster once. I've got some idea of who is fighting when. I have a rough idea of the combat styles of most of my opponents—

"I see," Whisper says. "And why are you visiting my engineer?"

I almost blink in surprise, but manage to cover up my reaction with another grimace as the Whisper compels me to answer. She really just... believed me. She-Who-Whispers doesn't doubt for a second that her skill might fail her, or that others might find a way around it. That's a weakness if I've ever seen one. "It's kind of hard to fight the people in the Arena," I say, which isn't technically a lie. The Firmament sink heats up in my pocket. "I met her in a previous loop. I'm pretty sure she can make a weapon for me."

Whisper snorts. "And you needed to seal her workshop to do this?"

She thinks I sealed the workshop? For an all-knowing leader of Isthanok, she's surprisingly ignorant to what's actually happening in it. "I didn't want you to listen in and find out I was the Trialgoer," I say, which is also technically the truth.

I can feel Ahkelios trembling as he tries to withhold his giggles. You better not give this away, I mutter to him.

I won't, he says. It's just — I can't believe she's this easy to fool.

I don't think she's ever considered that she's anything less than perfect, I mutter dryly. At least not after her Trial.

"I'm afraid Miktik isn't available for hire," Whisper says coldly. "What did you do to Guard?"

"Having a guard in the city is kind of inconvenient," I say, feigning a bored, careless tone that makes her Firmament simmer with anger once again. "And since you've technically only got one person guarding the whole city, it's an easy point of vulnerability."

"Answer the question." There's no room for argument in her voice. The assassins next to her shift uneasily, moving away from her even while under camouflage; I can't imagine it's comfortable to be so close to that density of Firmament.

"I just tore away some of his Firmament," I lie. That burns. It's enough of a direct lie that her Firmament flares up within me — not nearly as strong as it had been in our last fight, but I also don't have the same imbuement stone I had back then.

Whisper stares at me. "Foolish," she tells me. I feel her opening her Interface and risk activating Firmament Sight. The assassins bleed into my vision, splotches of green-brown Firmament against the background, but more importantly, I can see the square window that functions as her Interface.

I can't see what's on it, of course. It's just a mass of Firmament. But I can tell she's writing down a message, and I can tell when a small pulse of Firmament runs through it, which I assume is the message being saved.

Now, Ahkelios.

I don't know for sure that she's sent back the message that I want her to send back... but there's only one way to find out.

[ You have died. +5 Strength credits. +30 Durability credits. +12 Reflex credits. +6 Speed credits. +20 Firmament credits. ]