Pax didn’t know what the Aurist was trying to accomplish. He’s seen her linger around the Dining Pavilion, enjoying her meals with the Tripiant neytive. Her cheerful personality and colorful hair are things he can’t handle at the moment.

He’s still holding onto the bowl of berries in his bandaged hand.

While walking back to his room, Pax thinks about another neytive who is somewhat similar to Sagea. A neytive he met on Ra-Dimar before he was placed in isolation. He mistook the neytive’s harsh and cold personality for compassion. He wishes he never revealed his vulnerability at the time. Their interaction sentenced him to live in a secluded pyramid.

Biggest mistake of his life.

It’s midphase and no other neytive is around, not even the Psyke neytives.

Pax has heard around Auroris that the Psyke neytives were busy repairing the damages done to the Rejuvenation Tank. How it took them two dials to fix and start calling each candidate to be healed.

At first, he hoped that the tank would heal his mutism. That he would finally get to speak a full sentence. However, being a mute isn’t something he chose to happen or a recent accident. His mutism is permanent. Something you were born with can’t be healed.

Pax stops himself and stands in the middle of a three-way intersection. He wonders if the Chancellor made a mistake. Picking him as a candidate for the Knyghts Voyage felt like a mistake. She couldn’t have chosen him for his architectural skill, he hasn’t built anything in revolutions. She couldn’t have him for his combat and training with his trigger, he can’t hit a single target. Maybe she chose him just to get rid of him, like his Preeminent.

Once he pushes those thoughts down, he realizes the corridor on his right leads right into a room.

The sign etched on the wall reads, ‘The Holo-atrium.’

Pax walks through the entrance to find a new room, located in the center of Auroris. There are four entrances on all sides with no doors. The room has four levels, one below him, two above with metal railings. Green fluorescent lights hang along the rails and ceiling. There’s a rounded square layout to the atrium and four spiral metal staircases in each corner. On the first level is a cluster of tables, chairs, furniture and podiums.

The room has no windows looking out to space, but there are thousands of holocards on each level. The room glows with a cascade of colors. Every color on the spectrum can be seen in the atrium. Etched on every wall and shelves are symbols that he interprets. Four walls depicting north, south, east and west, four levels, twenty-six columns, and eight rows

The shelves of holocards aren’t the only things he finds in the atrium.

Leaning over the railing on the Fourth Level is a female neytive with dark brown skin and three eyes. Half of her hair is black and combed down the left side of her head. The right half is shaved off revealing her smooth scalp. She’s reading a holocard, not even realizing a neytive has entered the atrium.

Pax ignores her and goes down to the First Level. Since he lost hope for the Rejuvenation Tank earlier, maybe he can get better luck with this room. The deal he made with the Chancellor and his Preeminent is something he intends to fulfill.

He reaches the First Level, walks over to the podium and starts searching through a database.

All the holocards in the database; in the Holo-Atrium, contain information about Myalón. The inhabitants, languages, topographies, trybes, isles, abilities, records and history. Everything sits in the center of Auroris. When the Chancellor said she put every last resource into the Knyghts Voyage, she wasn’t joking.

Pax was too focused on trying to find what he’s looking for, he forgot about the bowl of berries in his hand. The Aurist neytive showed him kindness, something he isn’t used to. He can’t talk, he can’t interact, the most he can do is summon his sand and claws.

He puts the bowl down on a table, but winces from the sharp pain in his stomach.

Pax hasn’t eaten anything edible for 700 revolutions. It wouldn’t hurt him to try one berry. He picks a gold one from the bunch and chews it in one bite. The Aurist told him that it would make him feel better; but once the nectar hits his tongue, it numbs his taste buds. The berry pulses with flavor, and it forces him to spit it out.

He continues his search at the podium.

When he finds what he’s been searching for, he receives a code from the database. The words float across the screen in Hious.

‘East Wall. Second Level. Column Eighteen. Row Five.’

Pax walks to the east wall, climbs to the second level and stands in front of column eighteen. On the fifth row, there’s a red holocard blinking non-stop. He notices how all the holocards are slotted into the shelves, somehow connected to the podiums on the First Level.

He takes the holocard out of the slot and watches words float in front of him. Pax smirks at the letters floating in midair. This holocard is going to help him with the deal.

‘That will not help you.’

Pax jolts backwards and hits his back on the railing. He would’ve fallen over or tossed the holocard, if it wasn’t for his tight grip.

‘Find something else.’

There’s a voice but there’s no one near him. The only other neytive in the atrium is the one two levels above him, on the opposite wall.

They both lock eyes with each other. ‘You get startled too easily.’

Pax gets what’s happening. ‘Get out of my head.’

The neytive turns around and puts a holocard back into the shelf. ‘We Kortex neytives do not rely much on verbal communication.’

Pax shoves the holocard into his pocket. ‘What do you know?’

‘Even if you are a mute, you think very loudly,’ she places both of her hands on the railing. ‘It is hard to ignore the deal that you made with the Chancellor and your Preeminent.’

‘What I am doing is private. No one, not even a Kortex neytive…’

‘Zahara,’ the neytive points a finger to her chest.

‘Not even you can understand.’

‘Let me guess,’ Zahara turns around again to grab two more holocards from their individual slots. ‘You are not just searching for something, but for a neytive. Am I right?’

Pax doesn’t deny her claim, or even think it. The deal he made involves a neytive and he was sworn to come face to face with them by Chancellor Prime herself. He won’t let anything get in his way.

All the while Zahara’s words keep flowing into his mind. She’s not even looking at him. She activates a holocard and starts reading. ‘What do you plan to do once you find them? Confront them? Kill them?’

‘It is none of your concern!’

Pax is done listening to her.

He bolts toward the nearest entrance and into the long corridors.

‘You are blinded by rage,’ he still hears her voice.

‘Get out!’ Pax gets further away from the atrium. The beige lights flicker at his sudden appearance.

His breathing is heavy and his heart hurts. The Kortex was taunting him. She was reading his thoughts like the holocards in the atrium. He was being manipulated and he let it happen.

Pax paces back to his room, feeling worse than he did before.

He hopes to sleep through the last few dials on Auroris; instead, he finds a Psyke neytive standing in front of his door.

The Psyke speaks when he sees him. “Zaccur wants me to escort you to the Rejuvenation Tank.”

Pax has had one to many interactions. He should’ve told the Psyke neytive he’ll do it the next dial.

Feeling that he has no choice in the matter, he sunacates. ‘Can I change into my suit first?’

The Psyke grunts and steps aside, leaning against the steel wall.

Pax enters his room and shuts the door tight, not wanting the neytive to watch him hide the holocard under his pillow. When it hits the sheets, the words on the holocard flash in front of him with red pixels. ‘The Isle of Inphernos.’