Unknown 9 by Layton Green (each kindness read aloud txt) 📕

invisible prongs. She had also taken to wearing a locket with a scarab beetle preserved in amber, another symbol of protection.

“You have no need to fear me, child.” When Daiyu’s hands started to tremble in her lap, the Archon took two steps closer, uncomfortably close, looming over Daiyu’s birdlike form. “Does your Oracle know why I’ve come?”

“It doesn’t speak in absolutes.”

“No good oracle does.”

“Simple logic tells me why: my brother and I failed to complete the mission.”

“Not the case at all. We’ve recovered the Star Phone, and you helped us locate the next destination. Your brother—with your help—came closer to capturing Zawadi than anyone ever has.”

A shiver of relief coursed through Daiyu, and she almost whispered her next words. “Then why?”

The Archon’s gloved hands clasped behind the robe. “There is a traitor in our midst. Do not worry—I have no reason to suspect you or your brother. But first: Have you made progress on the next site?”

“I’ve found a few references to five doorways. None that I believe are useful.”

“I want you to shift your focus from China to Vietnam.”

“Another country? Why?”

“Call it intuition. A human ability our scientists have not yet begun to reproduce. Tell me, Daiyu, when do you think our machines will possess the full capabilities of our intellects?”

The change in subject caught her off guard. “I don’t know. But when the singularity occurs, we might not even know it. They could destroy us that fast.”

“Precisely,” the Archon said. “The vast majority of humanity has no conception of the imminent risks of AI. Which is why we must carefully monitor global systems, and ensure protocols are set in place long before the unthinkable occurs.”

“How is Dr. Corwin able to withstand interrogation?” Daiyu asked, working up the nerve to switch subjects herself. Despite the fear swarming through her system, overriding even the chronic pain, she understood the Archon was not seeking meek, sycophantic followers, and that her best defense was self-assurance. “Even your own?”

This last question, which called into question their leader’s prowess, put Daiyu in dangerous territory. There was a terrifying stretch of silence in which she resisted the urge to curl into a ball in her chair.

“Dr. Corwin,” the Archon said at last, “took steps to thwart my efforts. And we shall leave it at that. Focus on Vietnam, and relay what I’ve told you to your brother in a secure communication. If you have time, you should attempt to track Zawadi.”

“What about the other two? Dr. Corwin’s student and the journalist?”

“Without the Star Phone, there is little they can do. On the other hand, Andromeda has proven quite resourceful and could be an asset if forced to help us. Yes. Thank you. Divert resources to her as well.”

“Understood.”

The Archon moved even closer, standing right next to Daiyu, an uncomfortable invasion of her personal space. A sudden thought caused her to shrink into her chair: Could the Archon be attracted to her? The possibility made her skin crawl.

“You never answered my question,” the Archon said.

Despite their proximity, Daiyu could detect no smell other than a faint chemical odor, could glimpse nothing but darkness inside the eerie eyeholes of the mask. She swallowed. “Which one?”

“What did you ask the Oracle?”

Daiyu turned to regard the monitor. Sometime during the conversation, the Oracle had responded to her question with a tripartite image: the optical illusion of a staircase with no end or beginning, a bouquet of calla lilies, and a Major Arcana tarot card featuring a tower in flames.

The Oracle’s answers varied wildly. Sometimes it gave her moving images, sometimes flashing symbols and numbers, sometimes a single word or phrase.

“I wanted to know whether my brother would return from his mission.” She was sure the Archon would ask for an interpretation of the images, which she wasn’t prepared to give. “I’ve been wondering,” she continued, hoping to divert attention. “What was that place we saw at the library? With the ziggurats.”

“Our best reconstruction of an ancient culture.”

“Which one? I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

But the golden mask was unchanging.

“It felt so real,” Daiyu said.

“That’s because, to you, it was.”

“I don’t understand. How did you make us see that?”

“Do you believe the human mind is a machine, Daiyu? A biological machine of unimaginable sophistication, but with parts and processes like any other?”

“Of course.”

“Then, like all machines, you should know it can be manipulated. Programmed. Fitted with new software.”

“Yes,” Daiyu said slowly, thinking how the analogy, despite the rather terrifying implications, did in fact make sense. Not only that, it appealed to her.

“I’m leaving Shanghai today,” the Archon said.

“I’m . . . sorry to hear that.”

“I do not think that you are. But no matter. It’s natural to have fear, child. Only sociopaths lack emotion. What matters is how we overcome our human weaknesses.”

Daiyu wondered how much the Archon knew of her suffering—or if the Archon was speaking of something else.

“If you can learn to harness your inner strength,” the Archon continued, “and fully invest in our mission, I believe you will go far. Perhaps one day you will wear this robe and mask.”

Daiyu was too stunned by her leader’s words to reply.

“A parting gift. The effect will not last, but it’s a taste of what could one day await.” The Archon swept a hand across Daiyu’s face, and a flash of colored light exploded in her vision. They were so close, and it happened so fast, that Daiyu had no time to react. She closed her eyes in response, and when she opened them, she had the strangest sensation that she had been asleep for a short while, even though everything appeared as it was an instant ago.

“Stand,” the Archon commanded.

Daiyu obeyed. She eased herself out of her chair as she always did, yet to her utter shock, there was no pain, and she was able to stand straighter than she ever had in her life. “What did you do?” she said in wonder. “How?”

“Don’t move, even after I leave. Stand. Absorb. Experience the world free of pain, if