Arthur had learned something useful about Gallows Edge Academy.
Whenever a record was supposed to be difficult to find, there was usually another record explaining why.
The problem was finding that second record.
By eight in the morning, Arthur and Mira were back in the archive.
Not the lower archive.
Not the restricted section.
The ordinary student records.
Arthur had decided that breaking rules was unnecessary when the academy had already written down most of its mistakes.
Mira placed another stack of documents on the table.
“Nothing.”
Arthur looked up.
“Nothing?”
“Nothing under Compatibility Resonance.”
“Behavioral Compatibility?”
“Nothing.”
“Resonance Assessment?”
“Nothing.”
Arthur frowned.
“What about the medical psychology department?”
“Three references.”
She pushed the papers toward him.
“None explain the program.”
Arthur read the first.
DEPARTMENTAL FUNDING REQUEST — DENIED
Second.
STAFFING REASSIGNMENT — APPROVED
Third.
ARCHIVE ACCESS REQUEST — REJECTED
He looked at the dates.
All three were from before the West Tower incident.
Arthur tapped the last document.
“Who requested this?”
Mira checked.
“Dr. Elara Wynn.”
Arthur leaned back.
“And it was denied?”
“Yes.”
“Reason?”
“Insufficient academic necessity.”
Arthur smiled without humor.
“The academy really likes that phrase.”
Mira nodded.
“It appears everywhere.”
Arthur read the document again.
The request was simple.
Wynn had asked for access to historical archetype records.
Nothing about students.
Nothing about the West Tower.
Nothing about compatibility testing.
Just old archetype data.
Arthur’s expression changed.
“She wasn’t studying the students.”
Mira looked at him.
“What?”
“She was studying archetypes.”
They found the first useful clue three hours later.
It wasn’t in the academy archive.
It was in the maintenance records.
Mira discovered it while searching for references to the eastern infirmary.
A small line appeared in an old facilities request.
SUBLEVEL TESTING CHAMBER — TEMPORARY POWER ALLOCATION
Arthur read it twice.
“Testing chamber.”
Mira nodded.
“Location?”
“Old western training complex.”
Arthur looked at her.
“Below the western rampart?”
“Yes.”
There it was.
Not proof.
But a location.
Arthur copied the reference number.
Then another detail caught his attention.
The power allocation had been approved for only fourteen days.
Three months ago.
The same period in which the nineteen students were reassigned.
Arthur closed the file.
“That’s enough.”
Mira shook her head.
“Enough for what?”
“To ask a better question.”
They went to the western training complex.
The area was largely abandoned.
The academy had moved most practical exercises elsewhere after the breach.
Dust covered the old stone corridors.
Broken training equipment had been pushed against the walls.
A faded sign read:
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY
Arthur stopped beneath it.
Mira looked at him.
“Do we have authorization?”
“No.”
“Then why are we here?”
“To look at the sign.”
She stared.
Arthur walked past it.
“Now we’re here.”
Mira sighed and followed.
The corridor descended beneath the training grounds.
One level.
Then another.
At the bottom, they found a metal door.
No handle.
No lock.
Only a small identification panel.
Mira looked at Arthur.
“Any ideas?”
Arthur studied it.
“Several.”
“Good.”
“None legal.”
“Less good.”
Arthur crouched beside the panel.
A thin line of mana ran through it.
Glint of the Monocle activated.
The structure sharpened.
The panel wasn’t checking identity.
It was checking something else.
Arthur traced the mana pattern with his eyes.
“It’s not asking who we are.”
“What is it asking?”
“Whether we’re expected.”
Mira frowned.
“Is there a difference?”
“A significant one.”
Arthur touched the panel.
Nothing happened.
He withdrew his hand.
“I’m not expected.”
Mira tried.
Nothing.
“Neither am I.”
Arthur examined the wall.
A small metal plate sat several feet away.
He brushed away dust.
Words appeared.
TESTING SESSION 19 — TERMINATED
Mira’s face tightened.
“Session nineteen.”
The nineteen students.
Not a coincidence anymore.
At least, not a comfortable one.
Below the sentence was another line.
CANDIDATE REMOVED FROM ACTIVE PROGRAM.
Arthur’s eyes narrowed.
“Candidate.”
Mira looked at him.
“Singular.”
“Yes.”
“So there was one primary candidate.”
Arthur said nothing.
His attention had shifted to the floor.
There were scratches.
Old ones.
Someone had dragged equipment through the corridor.
One set of marks was newer than the others.
Mira crouched beside him.
“Recent?”
“Probably.”
“How recent?”
“Within a few weeks.”
Mira looked toward the door.
“Then someone still uses this place.”
Arthur nodded.
They had just found something important.
Unfortunately, someone else had probably found them too.
Footsteps echoed from above.
Mira stood immediately.
“Someone’s coming.”
Arthur listened.
Two people.
No. Three.
The footsteps stopped.
A voice came from the corridor.
“Cadets.”
Arthur recognized it.
Instructor Hallen.
Mira whispered, “We’re caught.”
Arthur stood.
“Not necessarily.”
The door above opened.
Light spilled down the staircase.
Hallen appeared with two security officers.
His expression wasn’t angry.
That was worse.
“Arthur Vale.”
“Hello, Instructor.”
“You were told not to enter this complex.”
“No.”
Hallen frowned.
“You were not?”
“No one told me.”
Mira glanced at him.
Arthur continued.
“Though I suppose the sign was suggestive.”
One of the security officers looked annoyed.
Hallen didn’t react.
“Come with me.”
Arthur looked at the sealed testing chamber.
“We haven’t entered.”
“I can see that.”
“Then technically—”
“Don’t.”
Arthur stopped.
Hallen rubbed his forehead.
“Just come upstairs.”
They were not expelled.
They weren’t even formally disciplined.
That surprised Arthur.
Instead, Hallen took them to an empty classroom.
He closed the door.
Then sat down.
“You’ve been investigating the nineteen students.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve spoken to former students.”
“Yes.”
“You accessed records you weren’t assigned to study.”
“Yes.”
Hallen sighed.
“You understand why this is becoming a problem.”
Arthur nodded.
“Because we’re finding things.”
Hallen looked at him.
“No.”
Arthur waited.
“Because you don’t know what you’re looking for.”
Arthur considered that.
“That’s fair.”
Mira leaned forward.
“Then tell us.”
Hallen shook his head.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know everything.”
Arthur studied him.
That answer sounded genuine.
Hallen continued.
“The Compatibility Resonance program was not created by the current administration.”
“Who created it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why did the academy allow it?”
“Because the original research appeared legitimate.”
“What was it studying?”
Hallen hesitated.
“Archetype adaptability.”
Arthur’s attention sharpened.
“Meaning?”
“Whether an archetype can change its response under extreme psychological pressure.”
Mira frowned.
“So it wasn’t about making students stronger.”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Hallen looked toward the window.
“Finding out what kind of person an archetype responds to.”
Arthur went quiet.
That connected too many pieces.
Rhea.
Jon.
The personalized questions.
The different results.
The nineteen students.
Their archetypes were being pushed against personal values.
Not to test morality.
To observe reaction.
Arthur asked, “Why was the program terminated?”
Hallen’s expression hardened.
“Because one student reacted differently.”
“Who?”
Hallen looked directly at Arthur.
“You already know the name.”
Arthur’s stomach tightened.
He didn’t speak.
Hallen did.
“Arthur Vale.”
Silence.
Mira looked at Arthur.
Arthur remained still.
“Old Arthur was the candidate?”
Hallen nodded.
“The nineteen students were subjects.”
Arthur’s voice became quieter. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
“I was the candidate.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Arthur’s eyes narrowed.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don’t expect anything from you.”
Hallen stood.
“I wasn’t involved in selecting you.”
“Who was?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then who does?”
Hallen walked toward the door.
“That’s what you should be asking.”
Arthur followed him with his eyes.
“Who?”
Hallen stopped.
“The person who removed your name from the current records.”
Then he left.
Arthur and Mira remained silent.
For once, neither had an immediate theory.
Finally, Mira spoke.
“The nineteen were subjects.”
Arthur nodded.
“And you were the candidate.”
“Yes.”
“Candidate for what?”
Arthur looked at the empty chair where Hallen had been sitting.
“I don’t know.”
Mira smiled faintly.
“You’re getting very good at that answer.”
Arthur ignored her.
His mind returned to the testing chamber.
SESSION 19 — TERMINATED
CANDIDATE REMOVED FROM ACTIVE PROGRAM
If there had been nineteen sessions before the program was terminated, then the nineteen students hadn’t been randomly selected.
They had been tested individually.
One after another.
And Arthur had been something different.
Not another subject.
A candidate.
Perhaps the program had been searching for someone whose archetype responded to the tests in a specific way.
Arthur didn’t know what that way was.
But he knew one thing.
The previous Arthur had discovered enough to become afraid of himself.
That explained the notes.
DO NOT TRUST ME.
IF I RETURN, DON’T LET ME REMEMBER EVERYTHING.
Maybe old Arthur hadn’t been warning someone about an enemy.
Maybe he’d been warning them about what would happen if he remembered the experiment.
That evening, Arthur found Julian in the training yard.
Julian took one look at him.
“You’re distracted.”
“Yes.”
“Then fight.”
Arthur raised an eyebrow.
“That’s your solution to everything.”
“No.”
Julian lifted his sword.
“Sometimes I use punching.”
Arthur laughed.
They began.
This time Arthur made no attempt to predict.
He watched.
Waited.
Moved.
Julian’s first strike missed.
Second.
Third.
Arthur blocked.
He stepped sideways.
For nearly two minutes, neither landed a clean hit.
Then Arthur made a mistake.
Julian struck his shoulder.
Arthur staggered.
Julian stopped.
“You were thinking again.”
“Yes.”
“About what?”
Arthur looked at him.
“Something I can’t solve.”
Julian shrugged.
“Then stop solving it.”
Arthur frowned.
“You make everything sound simple.”
“No.”
Julian smiled.
“I make it sound simple because you make everything complicated.”
Arthur stared at him.
Then laughed.
“That’s irritatingly useful.”
“Good.”
They continued.
Arthur lasted two minutes and twenty-three seconds.
His best time yet.
He still lost.
But he didn’t feel defeated.
Not today.
Before sleeping, Arthur opened his notebook.
He added three lines.
28.
The nineteen were subjects.
29.
I was the candidate.
He paused.
Then wrote:
30.
Find out what I was being considered for.
Arthur closed the notebook.
The answer was somewhere inside Gallows Edge.
Maybe in the sealed chamber.
Maybe in the lower archive.
Maybe in the records of the person who had initiated the program.
But for the first time, Arthur understood the shape of the mystery.
He hadn’t simply inherited someone else’s problems.
Three months before his death, another Arthur Vale had already been standing at the center of them.
And that man had known enough to leave warnings for his future self.
Arthur looked at the black box on his desk.
The broken silver ring sat inside it.
He hadn’t touched it since the Headmaster gave it to him.
Tonight, he finally picked it up.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the ring warmed against his palm.
Arthur froze.
A faint line appeared across its surface.
Not a system message.
Not a voice.
Just three words, engraved beneath the broken metal.
CANDIDATE: NOT ACCEPTED.
Arthur stared at them.
Then slowly turned the ring over.
On the other side was another line.
REPLACEMENT REQUIRED.
His expression went still.
The nineteen students had been tested.
He had been considered.
And somewhere between those two facts, someone had decided that Arthur Vale was not the answer.
The disturbing part was that Arthur had no idea what question they had been asking.