Exploring was boring. I was more interested in what Kalli was dealing with on Scrap. One of the men that had barged into the room was running a diagnostic on the control panel. “I don’t get it. These readings can’t be accurate.”

“Is it bad?” Kalli asked. “I didn’t break it, did I?”

The man turned around to gape at her. “No. It’s not that. If these readings are to be believed, you just supplied all of Scrap with energy for at least a year. That can’t be right, can it?”

Kalli stuck out her tongue. Show off!

I grinned sheepishly.

I missed you.

She smiled. Me too.

“It’s going to take us a while to check this out,” the man continued. “We’re going to have to inspect the whole grid to make sure this isn’t a false reading. Otherwise, we have enough surplus that you won’t have to come back for a while. Would you like me to look into other jobs you can do in the meantime? You’d be well within your rights to not take another job until you’re needed here again.”

Kalli shook her head. “I’ll work. Let me know how I can help.”

“Excellent,” the other man replied. “Perhaps we can get you training to be an Engineer or a Technician. Your fire magic will come in handy for both of those jobs.”

I’ll help.

Kalli smiled. I continued the climb as she went over her options with the two men. It turned out they were ultimately responsible for the infrastructure on Scrap while Kalli was more or less a hamster running in a wheel. With her doing the unthinkable, they saw untapped potential in her and were anxious to exploit it. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

After about the fifth floor of entitled chosen women slamming doors in my face, I started ignoring them and sticking to the stairwell. My theory was there had to be something special on the top floor. We climbed another twenty floors before we had to stop.

Marcelle sat on the stairs, trying to catch her breath. “I need a break.”

“I thought it would be Ulli who ran out of gas first,” I teased.

Ulli laughed, flexing her arms in a bodybuilder pose. “I’m a dancer. I can climb circles around you.”

“Wanna bet?” I asked, taking three steps at a time to get a head start.

She was quick to react, kicking off the wall as she flitted past me. Marcelle whined from below. “Come on, you two. Give me a break. My body isn’t designed for all these stairs.”

I was too caught up in the race to pay attention. I wasn’t about to lose to Ulli. By the time I realized something was wrong, she was two flights above me. I wasn’t sure how she was doing it but she cleared entire floors in a single leap. It was getting so bad, there was only one way to win. I folded mana over myself and stepped into the void. Once inside, time slowed to a crawl and I had plenty of time to plan for victory. Just as I approached Origin, Kalli reminded me I wasn’t alone. That’s cheating, you know.

I froze, looking around in surprise.

That’s strange. You can talk to me in here? I thought time was standing still.

Kalli giggled. I’m a part of you, so if you can move, I can move.

I tried to picture Kalli frozen on Scrap while internal Kalli talked to me in the void. She had other thoughts, nudging me toward another one of the orbs. This one is Scrap. I don’t know how I know, but I can feel myself there. If you wanted to come to me, all you’d have to do is go there.

It was so tempting to do just that. I could be with Kalli in the blink of an eye. But, Aya warned us not to do that. Dad would find out and ground us all over again. Then there would be no escape. I had to get that mirror first. Returning my attention to the tower, I zoomed in on the stairwell. Ulli was only a few floors from the top. I decided to be practical. Winning the bet wasn’t important.

I dropped out of the void right in front of Marcelle who was just starting to ascend again. She gasped when she saw me but I didn’t give her time to complain, wrapping mana around both of us and pulling her back into the void with me. That time, I immediately dropped us just outside of the large door at the top of the stairs.

Ulli made it just in time to see me standing next to Marcelle who was retching while desperately trying to catch her breath. She pouted. “You cheated!”

I gave her a sympathetic smile. “You’re right. I had no clue you were that fast.”

Ulli planted her hands on her hips. “It’s part of my class. Since you cheated, I won the bet. That means you owe me a favor! I want you to take me on another date.”

Another one? Kalli’s hands were on her hips too as she walked down the street leading to her house. I could tell she wasn’t mad. She had full access to my memories of the first date after all. That girl has a crush on you. You better let her down easy.

I know. She knows. I told her about you.

In answer to Ulli’s question, I said, “Sure thing. Where do you want to go this time?”

She paused for a moment, a look of confusion on her face. “Wow, I didn’t expect you to go along with it. Um, let me think about it. I’ll tell you later.”

Kalli laughed at me. That wasn’t letting her down at all.

You can kiss me in front of her when you see me.

She scowled. What makes you think I want to kiss you?

You kissed me plenty last night.

That made Kalli giggle. In your dreams!

I laughed out loud too, earning me a look from both Ulli and Marcelle.

Yeah, but it was a great dream.

The door at the top of the stairs was sealed. There was no doorknob or deadbolt. While we could see the hinges where the door should open, there didn’t seem to be any other way of entering. Marcelle and Ulli refused to help me find a way in.

Ulli backed away from the door and whispered. “Do you think that’s The Creator’s room?”

I laughed. “I certainly hope so. Otherwise, there was no purpose in coming all the way up here.”

“You can’t be serious,” Marcelle said in an annoyed voice. “Are you trying to get us thrown out of the tower?”

“Hey, you wanted to come,” I replied, shrugging. “Do you want me to take you back to my room?”

Ulli looked to Marcelle hopefully but she shook her head. “No, we’re here already. Besides, it’ll probably be worse if you get caught and he finds out you wandered off without us.”

I decided that was good enough and ran my fingers along the crease in the door. Mana flowed out of me, which I hoped would give me an idea of what was on the other side. To my surprise, the door reacted and swung open. I stood there framed in the door, staring at a rather plain and very messy bedroom. It wasn’t grand by any means unlike my room or the rooms of the tower maidens. A small cot rested in the corner and the rest of the room was cluttered with shelves of exotic-looking items.

I scanned the room for a mirror and, to my surprise, found three. The first was attached to the wall. It looked like a pane of glass that someone had clamped on because they wanted to see their reflection. I ruled that one out. The second was an ornate mirror framed in gold with colorful gemstones of every color. The final mirror was the one I remembered seeing in the artifact room. It was a simple wooden mirror with a dark brown flame. I walked over and picked it up. Nothing happened. It was rather disappointing compared to the previous artifacts I’d encountered. It didn’t accept me or attempt to bind itself to me. It felt as mundane as an ordinary household item. When I looked down at it, I was surprised. There was no reflection. I turned it over in my hand and held it up close to my face. There was nothing but an opaque glassy surface.

“Hello?” I spoke to the mirror. Ulli and Marcelle peeked over my shoulder, curious about what I was examining.

“Put that down!” A stern voice echoed through the room.

Marcelle squeaked and Ulli dropped to the floor. I looked down and realized she’d fainted. I set the mirror back where I’d found it and said, “Hi, Dad.”

He glared at me. “Care to explain yourself? What are you doing in my bedroom?”

I shrugged. “I was looking for the mirror you said didn’t exist.”

“Why are you behaving like this?” Merlin asked. “Am I not treating you well enough?”

“You confined me to the planet,” I countered, puffing my chest out to stand up to him. “I still don’t see why I have to stay here. If you care about me, you should let me go find Kalli.”

“I already told you,” he growled. “She’s dead. If I could bring her here, I’d have done it by now.”

I was stunned. While I should have pieced things together when I discovered Kalli’s whereabouts, hearing him after the fact drove it home. My father was a liar. His lies about Kalli made me second-guess everything he’d told me since I met him. I’d trusted him about so many things. Would it kill me if I teleported off the planet? Was my mom missing? I asked the one question that seemed to matter.

“Are you using the system to destroy the universe?”

He frowned. “Who told you that?”

“Nobody,” I blanched, trying to come up with a lie of my own. “It just seems like you’re up to something.”

Merlin sighed. “Is that what you think of me? The answer is no, I am not using the system to do anything of the sort. As I’ve explained to you at great length, I created the system to regulate the use of magic. You wouldn’t like the alternative. Without some modulation, awakened can become too powerful. They are the ones you need to fear destroying the universe. Not the system.”

I wanted to ask Merlin if he needed to be regulated but decided not to stir the pot. “So why can’t I leave Origin?”

To his credit, Merlin did seem pained by the decision. “Give me a little more time. Then I’ll let you go out. I promise. I’d also like to train you up a little more so you’ll be ready to take over for me someday. I’d like to retire once I find your mother.”

“What about the mirror?” I asked, glancing down at the strange artifact.

“That thing?” He asked. “Why are you so fixated on it?”

“It’s cool!” It was the only thing I could think to say.

It took him a while but he finally relented. “Fine. Just do your best not to break it.”

“Why did you want that mirror?” Marcelle asked. She was still mad at me for getting her in trouble with The Creator. Ulli wasn’t even talking to me.

I looked into the reflectionless mirror. “I don’t know. Something told me it’s important.”

“Important enough to risk The Creator’s wrath?” Marcelle asked.

“To me, he’s just dad,” I replied, trying to force the mirror to reflect something with my mind. “I don’t see why it’s such a big deal. I told you that you didn’t have to come.”

Marcelle grunted and stormed off. Kalli spoke in her place. You could be a little nicer. It wouldn’t hurt.

I sighed, flipping the mirror over again. Kalli was right. She always was. I had more important things to deal with, though. One was figuring out why the mirror was so important. I decided to try infusing it with mana.