Chapter 298: The Breakthrough
The Arcane Legion Laboratory.
Deep night.
Skele-Avarice stood before a laboratory bench cluttered with discarded runes and
shattered alchemy vials. Two bony fingers tapped a rhythmic, frustrated beat
against the stone.
Experiment 3,721: Logic Error. Result: Failure. Experiment 3,722: Signal Decay.
Result: Failure. Experiment 3,723: Total Data Wipe. Result: Failure.
He casually tossed the final report into the neighboring pile—the "Mountain of
Failure" grew another centimeter higher.
The Memory Retention Project.
Since the Arcane Legion's inception, this was the only research track that had
yielded a flat zero in terms of progress.
Three years. Three full cycles.
Emerald's Respite had transitioned from a laboratory curiosity to a global
commodity, filling the Empire's coffers with gold. The Teleportation Grid had
reached Version 3.0, and they had achieved stable inter-planar transit. Even
that simpleton in the Agriculture Department who raised magical chickens had
managed to evolve a legendary-tier beast with their assistance.
But this specific directive—retaining an undead unit's pre-conversion
memory—remained a structural wall.
Avarice's soulfire dimmed. Is it time to terminate the project? Perhaps
anchoring a soul's past to its necrotic future was fundamentally a violation of
Multiverse Law.
"Sigh."
Avarice began to organize his tools for the night. He was ready to clock out.
Just then, the laboratory doors were flung open with a violent bang.
"AVARICE! AVARICE! A TOTAL SYSTEM VARIABLE! THE HEAVENS ARE FALLING!"
Skele-Lust's voice preceded her, saturated with a high-frequency excitement.
Before Avarice could turn his skull, she was in his face, smelling of heavy-duty
magic and the oily scent of street-snacks. She waved a crumpled report in one
hand and held a bag of sugar-coated worms in the other.
Avarice stared at the vibrating door. "General... it is the dark cycle. Is there
an emergency mandate?"
"Emergency? This is a Paradigm Shift!"
Lust ignored his dry tone, slamming the report onto the bench and knocking over
a row of test tubes. "Look! Read the data! This is the find of the decade!"
Avarice snatched the paper, performing a rapid scan.
[SUBJECT LOG: ANOMALOUS CONVERSION DATA] [DESIGNATION: UNIT AE926] [CONVERSION
TIMESTAMP: PLANAR DEFENSE PHASE] [DEPARTMENT ASSIGNMENT: ARCANE LOGISTICS]
- ANOMALY OBSERVED: During a routine freight operation, the unit bypassed a
specific crate without instruction. When queried, the unit stated the crate
contained 'Fragile Variables' and required delicate handling. The crate
possessed zero external markings or identifying signage.
Avarice's soulfire, previously a dull ember, flared into a brilliant blue.
"This..."
"Exactly! It's the 'Eureka' moment!" Lust chirped. "The new recruit... she
possesses pre-conversion archives!"
Avarice's hand trembled. Three years of "Failure" had made this data point feel
like a hallucination. He re-read the depth-interview log, word for word.
[SECURITY AUDIT LOG] WARDEN: "Identify the logic used to categorize the unmarked
freight." AE926: "I... the data was simply present. I projected a high
probability of structural damage if force was applied." WARDEN: "Does your
archive contain further pre-transit data? Who were you?" AE926: "I perceive...
fragments. High-speed slides. I recall being designated 'Unit One' and 'Lia.' I
recall combat patterns. I recall... a high density of scars."
PRELIMINARY CONCLUSION: Subject possesses residual pre-life memory. Behavioral
impact is currently minimal. Recommend immediate transfer to the Arcane High
Command for structural analysis.
Avarice lowered the report, his mind reeling. "Lia..."
He remembered the name. The inter-planar spy from several months ago—the one
Skele-Pride had driven back into the Void.
"General... where is the subject localized?" Avarice's voice was no longer dry;
it was sharp with scientific hunger.
"In the observation sector next door! The idiots in Logistics almost processed
her for the Punishment Legion's front lines!"
Lust seized Avarice's arm. "Move! If we delay, the data might undergo natural
decay!"
The two ran from the lab, racing through the long corridors until they reached
the containment suite. Lust swiped her Authority-Pass, and the door hissed open.
A common Skeleton Soldier was sitting perfectly still in a chair in the center
of the room. She was an un-evolved Tier 5 unit; her soulfire looked standard,
perhaps a bit on the weak side. Nothing about her aesthetic shell suggested a
world-changing anomaly.
Seeing the Generals enter, the skeleton stood and performed a slightly stiff
Imperial salute.
"General. Deputy Commander."
The voice was a flat, mechanical drone—identical to a million other thalls.
Avarice approached her, performing a clinical scan from skull to tarsus. "You
are designated Lia?"
"Affirmative, Deputy Commander."
"Do you possess the record of your termination?"
Lia's skull tilted a fraction of a degree. "Archives are fragmented. I recall an
ocular-based attack. Specific details are missing. The data is incomplete."
Lust interjected, her tone uncharacteristically blunt. "What is your emotional
resonance regarding your killer? Anger? Resentment? A desire for retaliation?"
Lia didn't hesitate. "Zero emotional resonance detected. It is merely a
historical event archived in my core."
"The event concluded with my liquidation and subsequent optimization. Logically,
I should offer gratitude to the perpetrator; he provided the catalyst for my
entry into the Sovereign's service."
The answer left both Avarice and Lust paralyzed.
It was perfect. The "Ideal State." She possessed the knowledge and tactical
experience of her past, but the biological "Logic Errors" of human emotion had
been successfully purged during the conversion.
Lia's soulfire flickered. Avarice pressed further. "What else remains in your
database?"
"Combat protocols. Infiltration methodology. Targeted liquidation techniques."
"I recall a settlement. A drainage sector saturated with slimes."
"I recall a juvenile human designated 'Amy'."
"I recall... I recall a high level of self-loathing."
The narrative was delivered with the cold detachment of a logistics report.
Avarice felt his mental gears grinding.
This was a structural breakthrough, but it presented a new puzzle. A
"Success-with-Defect." The memory persisted, but the self that owned the memory
appeared to have been replaced by the Evernight Logic. Was this a statistical
fluke, or a repeatable pattern of our Vocation?
Lust's face turned uncharacteristically serious. "Lia, do you have an 'Opinion'
on these memories?"
"Negative, General," Lia replied, giving her head a slow shake.
"They are like a book stored in a deep archive. I am aware of the text. I can
audit the pages at will."
"But the narrative within... does not concern the unit I am now."
Avarice nodded, a wave of relief washing over him. If pre-life memories impacted
loyalty-parameters, the Sovereign would have ordered the project's termination
instantly. But if it was pure information retention... the tactical value was
infinite.
"General Lust," Avarice said, turning to his superior. "We require a Total
System Audit. Immediate effect."
"Soul-structure mapping, Mana-circuit scan, memory-sector localization..."
"I know, I know!" Lust's facade of gravity shattered, replaced by her usual
manic hunger for data. "I've been waiting three years to pull someone apart like
this! Not literally—I mean research! Research!"
"Take her to the Primary Lab in the Valley! Activate all backup Od-reserves!
Recall every Lich on holiday! NO ONE SLEEPS TONIGHT!"
Avarice didn't argue. For once, his fanaticism matched hers.
Three years of "Failure." Finally, a spark in the dark.
"Lia. Follow," Avarice commanded.
"As commanded, Deputy Commander."
Lia stepped out of the room, trailing behind the two powerhouses. She didn't
know what protocols awaited her. She didn't need to know.
Obedience was her directive. And for a soldier of the Evernight, that was the
only glory that mattered.
☆☆☆
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