The sun was high when the knock came. It was not the usual rhythm. It was fast and hard.
Yoren stood from the table. He covered the vials with the cloth again. He moved the notes into the locked drawer. He did not hurry. He did not panic.
He walked to the door. He opened it without asking who it was. He knew the knock.
Raith stood in the hallway. He looked disheveled. His jacket was unzipped. His eyes were wide. He held a folder against his chest.
Yoren said, You are early.
Raith said, We need to talk. Now.
Yoren stepped aside. He let Raith in. He closed the door. He locked it.
Raith walked to the table. He did not sit. He placed the folder on the wood. He tapped it with his finger.
Raith said, I know about Level Two.
Yoren said, You know nothing.
Raith said, I know the ingredients. I know the reaction time. I know the vapor color.
Yoren moved closer. His shadow stretched across the floor. The room felt smaller suddenly.
Yoren said, Who told you?
Raith said, No one told me. I found it. I went to the archives. The old ones. The ones beneath the Nullborn sector.
Yoren said, Those are restricted.
Raith said, I have friends. You know I have friends. People talk when you give them enough credits.
Yoren said, People die when they talk too much.
Raith flinched. He looked at Yoren. There was fear in his eyes. But there was determination too.
Raith said, I am not afraid of dying. I am afraid of being weak. Look at me, Yoren.
Yoren looked. Raith was stronger than before. The Level One serum had worked. His muscles were denser. His reflexes were sharper.
Raith said, Level One made me better. Level Two will make me enough. I can pass the Iron Veil test. I can protect myself.
Yoren said, You cannot protect yourself with unknown variables.
Raith said, It is not unknown. I have data.
Yoren said, Data is not safety.
Raith opened the folder. He pulled out a stack of papers. They were copies. Some were handwritten. Some were typed.
Raith said, I cross referenced three different sources. The chemical structure matches the Nullborn archives from before the Fracture. It is stable.
Yoren said, The archives are incomplete.
Raith said, This part is not. Look.
Raith spread the papers on the table. He moved the cloth covering the vials aside. He pointed to a diagram.
Yoren looked. The diagram was accurate. It showed the molecular bond of the serum. It showed the stabilization point.
Yoren said, Where did you get this?
Raith said, I told you. The archives.
Yoren said, You are lying.
Raith said, Why would I lie to you? I am your friend. I want to live.
Yoren said, Friends do not dig where they are told not to.
Raith slammed his hand on the table. The vials rattled. The sound was sharp in the quiet room.
Raith said, I am not a child! I am not one of your shadows to be kept in the dark. I took the first dose. I feel the changes. I need the next step.
Yoren said, You need to stop.
Raith said, No. I will not stop. Not until you give me a reason that is not just because I said so.
Yoren stepped back. He crossed his arms. The red lines on his neck were invisible under his collar. But they itched.
Yoren said, The risk is too high. The formula is old. It is untested on humans.
Raith said, It was tested. Look at the dates. These notes are fifty years old. People took this then. They survived.
Yoren said, Most died.
Raith said, Some lived. I want to be one who lives.
Yoren said, You are gambling with your life.
Raith said, I am gambling with my future. There is a difference.
Yoren turned away. He walked to the window. He looked out at the street. A patrol passed below. Iron Veil.
Yoren said, If you take it and change, I cannot fix you.
Raith said, If I do not take it, I am already broken.
Yoren closed his eyes. He heard the truth in the words. Raith was not weak. But in Veldrun, normal was weak. Normal was dead.
Yoren said, Give me one more day.
Raith said, No. I need it now. The test is in three days.
Yoren said, Then you will fail.
Raith said, Maybe. Or maybe I will pass because I did not listen to you.
Raith reached into his pocket. He pulled out a single sheet of paper. It was yellowed. It was old.
He laid it on the table. He smoothed it out with his palm.
Raith said, I found this in a sealed envelope. It was marked with a symbol.
Yoren turned around. He looked at the paper.
His breath stopped.
The symbol was a ring. A black ring and a silver ring intertwined.
Yoren walked to the table. He picked up the paper. His hand was steady. But his heart was not.
Yoren said, This does not exist.
Raith said, It is in my hand. It exists.
Yoren said, Where was it?
Raith said, In the deep archive. Box four zero nine. It was locked behind glass.
Yoren said, No one has the key.
Raith said, Someone does. And they left it there for someone to find.
Yoren looked at the formula on the paper. It was a fragment. It was the missing piece for Level Three.
It was the piece Yoren did not have. It was the piece kept in his own locked drawer.
Yoren said, This should not be outside.
Raith said, Why? Who wrote it, Yoren?
Yoren did not answer. He looked at the handwriting. It was the same looped script as his own notes.
It was the same hand. The hand he had never met. The hand he had never seen.
Yoren said, Put this away.
Raith said, Tell me what it is.
Yoren said, Put it away.
Raith said, No. Not until you tell me the truth. Who are you working for?
Yoren said, No one.
Raith said, Then how does this exist? How does someone else have your secrets?
Yoren crumpled the paper. He threw it into the lantern. The flame caught the edge. It burned quickly.
Raith said, Why did you do that?
Yoren said, Because it is dangerous.
Raith said, You are dangerous. The secrets are dangerous. I am just trying to survive.
Yoren said, Survival requires silence.
Raith said, Then I am already dead.
Raith turned to the door. He opened it. He stopped in the frame.
Raith said, Think about the test. Think about me. And think about who else has those notes.
He left. The door clicked shut.
Yoren stood alone. The ash of the paper fell into the lantern. It turned to black dust.
He walked to the drawer. He opened it. He took out his own notes. He compared them.
The ink was the same. The paper was the same.
Someone else had the source. Someone else had the formula.
He knew what Level One did to a person. He had never given anyone Level Two. The notes said it should be safe. The notes were written by someone he had never met and could not verify.
Now someone else had them. And they were leaking.
Yoren closed the drawer. He locked it. He turned the key twice.
The room was silent. The shadows watched him.
He was not the only one playing this game.
A/N Thank you for reading Chapter 7! The secrets are spreading, and Yoren's control is slipping. Who else has the formula? Vote and add Ashes of the Twin Rings to your library to support the story. See you in Chapter 8!