What the Tower Knows - Part 3
Date Posted: June 24, 2024
Seek out what the Tower knows.
The final words of Clio’s message resounded in Amon’s mind over and over again.
Allag needs you to wake up!
Sadly, he hadn’t woken up in time. Everything he’d spent his life working for had turned to dust. And as much as Amon wanted to shoulder the full blame for that, a notion was forming that maybe he wasn’t completely at fault. As Clio noted, there were bigger forces at work that once sought to tear down Allag for its own purposes.
Seek out what the Tower knows.
That seemed too simple. Too obvious.
The Tower had stood as the silent witness for so many thing – good and evil. It knew him. It knew his deeds. It knew the flow of time across the thousands of years it stood watching over his people.
Though Amon had scoured the depths of the database the structure contained, he had not thought to search the aether-memories of the Tower itself. It was theorized that major events, especially emotional ones, could etch themselves into the aether of a location.
And the Tower was rife with aether. Old, ancient aether.
Aether that knew his actions, even the things he could no longer remember.
Seek out what the Tower knows.
But would the Tower tell him?
The Tower of the Source did not identify him as a keybearer, one who could open the Tower gates, due to the lack of his own blood inheritance. However, this Tower, the Tower of the First, recognized him as Amon. And Amon of Syrcus once held great sway over the magics the Tower had to offer – enough so as to stop time within the Tower itself.
That… spoke volumes of the abilities that the mere clone he was supposed to be once held.
He’d left the security cells of the down-under behind, heading back up to the living chambers. Node followed dutifully, remaining silent. He sensed his master’s deep thoughts and did not interfere.
Amon had never sought memory-visions within aether, despite being able to see aether flows himself. That sounded too much like the Echo, and the Technologist wasn’t a fan of the Echo or the secrets it laid bare.
The Ocular was a place of great aetheric focus. If any chamber would allow him to connect with the Tower in a way to see what it knew, it would be there. There was just the issue of it being under watch. However, the guard did not usually seem vigilant – likely because it was next to never that attempted to break into the Ocular.
And so, Amon decided that once evening took hold, he would find a way to sneak into the chamber and request audience with the Tower itself.
If Tad had been there, he’d have made the perfect distraction for the single guard on Ocular duty. But Tad wasn’t there, and Amon would have to make do.
It was probably better that way. Less questions. Less for Tad to see. Amon didn’t know what he would discover from this. If anything.
Node played the decoy for now, and did so well. For being a machine, Node had a good grasp on causing mischief – likely, something passed from maker to creation.
Tapping into the security tech of the Tower, he caused some of the doors down hall to give alarm, opening and closing again in random succession. The guard instantly took notice and went to investigate. As soon as the inquisitive fellow stepped into one of the side room, Node snapped the door shut behind him.
[Diversion successful, Master.]
“Thanks, Node,” Amon nodded in appreciation, quietly moving towards the Ocular door. “Hold him as long as you can.”
[Affirmative.]
Just long enough to buy Amon time to slip into the Ocular and attempt to do what he needed to do without being interrupted. Once inside, the Technologist took a deep breath, a glance around, and got to work.