The First Manuscript trembled. Its pages fluttered without any wind to stir them, each turning page catching silver light that drifted across the endless white space surrounding Aether, illuminating countless floating pages suspended like stars throughout an infinite library that seemed to stretch on without any true beginning or end. He had lost count, by now, of how many pages had passed before his eyes since the trial began, and something in the quality of the light told him that whatever remained ahead would demand more of him than anything he had yet faced.
The Reader's Trial had entered its second stage.
A calm voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere at once, filling the vast emptiness without ever seeming to originate from any single point.
*The first lesson,* it said. *Preserve truth.*
A pause followed, heavy with anticipation.
Then, gently, it continued. *The second lesson. Restore what was forgotten.*
