Page 19 of The Alien in the Archive

“But you knew.”

I nod. “It was my first act of resistance. Obscuring Earth’s history from my own people, so they could live in peace.”

Page stares at me, her pen frozen above her notebook. For the first time since she sat down, she isn’t scribbling or fidgeting.

She just…stares.

“Youhid Earth from your own empire,” she says slowly, like she’s trying to wrap her head around the weight of it.

“Yes,” I reply simply, though the truth of it is anything but. “It wasn’t easy. The Boreal Academy didn’t take kindly to gaps in our records. But I wasn’t the only one, there were others who saw Earth as more than just another resource to be exploited. We erased what we could, buried what we couldn’t, and made sure that when the time came for the Empire to expand, Earth would be forgotten.”

Her lips part, but no words come out. She leans back in her chair, her silver-grey eyes searching mine, the weight of the revelation settling over her. I can feel the emotions swirling in her mind—shock, disbelief.

“You helped us,” she says finally, her voice quiet.

“I delayed the inevitable,” I correct, my tone sharp. “Earth was still invaded, Page. The Magisterium’s reach was vast, and even the deepest shadows can only hide a secret for so long. When they rediscovered your planet thousands of years later, there was nothing I could do to stop them.”

“But you tried,” she presses. “You risked everything to give us a chance.”

“I risked very little and did the bare minimum,” I tell her. “Don’t mistake me for a hero.”

She doesn’t seem satisfied with that, her mind reaching toward mine for another embrace. I shut it down, blocking her out.

“I have a question for you, too,” I tell her.

“That only seems fair.”

I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees and steepling my fingers. “How did you come by your gifts?” I ask. “As far as I’m aware, there haven’t been any humans like you for a long, long time. Were you born with them or…”

Her face falls and she looks away, fingers curling around her notebook. The fidgeting starts again. “I was born in Pemberton, Massachusetts,” she says. “My parents worked in the Elixir refinery there—they were biologists, trying to clean things up once the Convergence was over. They died in an industrial accident, and I was exposed to high levels of Elixir…I’ve always figured that’s how it happened. There could be hundreds of us at this point.”

I don’t know how to respond. She’s just as remarkable as she is tragic.

I look up at the skylight, a tiny window where only thesmallest scrap of sunlight creeps in. It’s already dusk, the sun crawling into bed. “You should probably get going,” I tell her. “Wouldn’t want to arouse suspicion by disappearing into the archive overnight.”

She looks like she has a thousand more questions, but she relents and begins to put her supplies away. I catch sight of Ashlan watching her from the shadows of the stacks, antennae glowing softly, and she glances over at him with a sudden laugh.

“Huh,” she muses. “It all makes sense now.”

“What does?”

“That flare of light, the night you were…I don’t know, lurking,” she says. “It was your pet, right?”

“He’s more of a housemate,” I grumble.

That gets another laugh out of her, light and refreshing as she slings her bag over her shoulder. “What’s his name?”

“I call him Ashlan—after a Borean hero from a long time ago,” I say. “And yes, he gets a little protective.”

She kneels and reaches out her hand, and Ashlan comes closer to rub his cheek against her knuckles. Page stands up, then, and meets my eyes. “Can I come back?” she asks. “Tomorrow—I’ve already hit dead ends in the archive, and I’ve already learned more from you than I could from any book. Plus…I need help.”

“With what?”

“My mind reading,” she says. “It’s been getting more and more overwhelming. I can’t control it.”

“Understood,” I nod. “And I can try to teach you. I’m a bit rusty, but we’ll find a way.”

She smiles. “Great. See you around, Thorne.”

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