The private library in Magitek Lab Omega was almost always empty. Only privileged people were allowed in it. I was here a few days ago. It was the day I tried to solve the puzzle all by myself and discovered that I needed help. The day Guardian sent me running to stop a fake reactor overload and a fake assassination. The day I discovered that Tina and Terra were the same people. The day I discovered that Cid manufactured a second slave crown to give to Kefka.
The private library was the same place Guardian pointed to me a path to follow. Now, as if in a plot for a great irony, I was back to where I started only because this was where the Guardian's path led me--to Guardian.
I stood before a large screen. It was the same screen I was staring at a few days ago, studying blue prints and security measures littered around the Bronze Compound. I locked the door behind me. Privacy and secrecy were the room's rewards.
"I have great news, Guardian," I said loudly. I knew that the room was soundproof. Guardian herself pointed it out to me. "I've reached the end of the cold trail."
The screen blinked on in an instant. The large screen divided itself into two smaller ones. The top screen showed a view of the inside. I saw myself, standing alone in the middle of the room, looking at my self, in an infinite regress. The bottom screen showed the same view, except through an infrared filter. My heat signature showed. White, red and orange in my centers, blue and purple in my extremities. Beside my infrared image was another ghostly image of a humanoid having the same patches of painted heat emission.
I sighed. So much for the surprise.
The other ghostly image was Jasom, cloaked in my Vanish magic. I cast it upon him so he could witness my conversation with Guardian in secret. Unfortunately, Guardian watched not only what were visible, but also what weren't.
"He's harmless, Guardian," I said. "He's my self-appointed aide. He's here to help me."
Guardian spoke finally in her artificial voice. "But, of course, he is. I wouldn't have allowed him to enter the building if he weren't. In fact, I wouldn't have let him live." A bright flash of blue light filled the room for a split of a second. The light seemed to have been magical in nature, for Jasom's barrier of invisibility was dispelled completely. Jasom gave me a concerned look that silently asked, "What now?"
"You'd do that to protect me?" I asked.
"I wouldn't even need to do anything at all. The security system in the building alone is enough to detect and eliminate unauthorized entities. Your friend is under that category," Guardian explained. "Moreover, I'm very disappointed in your deficient effort to smuggle him inside this building."
I heaved another sigh. "I didn't come here to argue, Guardian, so allow me the proper introductions. He is--"
"Keep, Jasom. Lieutenant. Aide to the General. Formerly Private First Class. Last known assignment: Guard duty inside Magitek Lab Alpha.
"That is quite a leap in status, Mr. Keep. Alpha, one day. Omega, the next. What has your general told you about our unpleasant situation?"
"Everything I needed to know," Jasom responded, bluffing.
"You needed to know nothing," Guardian said. It seemed harsh. "You were a protector of secrets, Jasom. And you still are. But do you know what the difference is between then and now?" Jasom was having mixed feelings about responding to Guardian. Perhaps the artificiality of the voice unnerved him. "The difference is this. Before, you were also protected from the secrets. Now, you are exposed to it.
"In ignorance there is bliss, they say. Knowledge is power, some reply. But what you will uncover today, are the secrets of the Magi."
"Pretty poetry," Jasom said, cynically.
"It's more than poetry. It's a prophecy. You are in over your head, Jasom Keep. There is wisdom in choosing ignorance, if you value your life. Leave while the secrets you protect still do not take interest in you."
"Is there a point to this harassment, Guardian?" I interjected. "I--"
"You've brought an outsider into this unstable aggregate of internal power struggles."
"I chose to follow on my own," Jasom said sternly.
"I promised your general protection. The offer is singular."
"Jasom is my responsibility."
"See that you do not forget it." With that, Guardian allowed the conversation to make a turn. "What is this good news you speak of?"
"I followed the clues, and it led me back to you," I answered calmly.
"With a new sense of regard, I hope."
"Yes," I replied almost sounding defeated.
"You are ready to listen?"
"Yes."
"For the benefit of your aide who rejects the safety of ignorance, do share your detective work with us."
"I've read Branford's diary. She followed you without question. And you've always protected her. That is, until she was reassigned to the Infirmary to guard the survivor of the reactor overload. That was the last part of her diary. She did not return to her quarters that day to write any more.
"She couldn't because she was caught in the act of murdering the witness by her very own captain. But she really didn't murder the witness. There were two possibilities. She was either framed or betrayed.
"I assumed that she was betrayed. I assumed that you have betrayed her for you were closest to her. You were capable of forging the assignment requests. And you've failed to protect her when she needed you the most. In turn, she was captured.
"But she escaped, killed the guards, and vanished without a trace, only to reappear much later in the process of breaking into Magitek Warehouse 5. That was the defect in the story. Why would Tina Branford, an escaped suspect, be breaking into a building where his captain and dozens of other Imperial soldiers are in--for whatever the reason?
"That was where Kefka had made his mistake. He was not at the top of my list of suspects up until that time. Kefka had made the report of the sighting, specifically saying that it was Tina Branford, and not Terra. A few minutes later, Tina's existence was eradicated--almost. The sheer convenience of it all! Tina Branford's identity went up in flames together with her comrades, friends and acquaintances, and 5,000 pounds of T.N.T. allegedly stolen from an explosives factory that used to supply the mysterious Military's mining project in the east. Suddenly, you and Kefka were tied at the top of my list of suspects.
"The next course of action was obvious. We went to Marrow's factory to interrogate him. It was his T.N.T. so I thought he would know something. As it turned out, he did. Somebody tried to kill him--a magic-user skilled in Sleep and Vanish. It had to be a Fanatic. It had to be Kefka who was ultimately responsible for everything.
"It was the Cult who silenced the witness. It was the Cult who stole those explosives and stowed it in Magitek Warehouse 5. It was he who somehow gathered all who ever knew Tina Branford with the explosives. It was he who reported the sighting, diverting the search away from the other buildings such as the powering station that Branford infiltrated that contained the Magitek Armo--"
Guardian interrupted. "But why would Branford attack the warehouse?"
"Because she was already under the influence of the first Slave Crown. That had to be it. Kefka ordered her to. Which meant that Kefka had Branford under his secret custody prior to the Terra Episode, and after Tina Branford's escape. Which meant that Tina Branford, did not escape at all. She was broken out of military custody by Kefka's goons who knew exactly where Branford was being held. Which meant that Kefka was the one who reassigned Branford to the Infirmary.
"Branford was framed by Kefka," I concluded proudly. As a parallel, I added, "You did not betray her. You sent me not to discover Branford and her innocence. You sent me to discover yours."
"Indeed, I have. There is not much left to be done with Branford's story. You and only a handful of inconsequential people know of her existence. To most people, she is dead. In many ways, she is. This is your story now, Celes."
"Now what?" I asked. I honestly did not know what to do. Guardian had proven her point. I was out of paths to follow.
"Does this mean you're going to arrest, Adviser Palazzo?" Jasom asked from behind.
"No, Jasom," I answered, shaking my head sadly. "I can't."
He looked confused as ever. "But why not? Your reasoning sounded solid. We can go to the Council and tell them your findings. Maybe you can go directly to the Emperor!"
I sighed yet again. There was much to tell Jasom, and so little time.
"Your general has accomplished a great deal of detective work, Jasom. Superbly! But this is just one mystery out of the many."
"So?"
"I'm afraid it's not that easy, Jasom," I tried to explain. "The New Council is another story."
"For the sake of the one I've promised to protect, I shall explain this to you. So listen carefully. Your general is not an observer. She is a player--a very special piece--in a deadly game of secrets. She is not doing this investigation for justice--"
"As much as I would like to pursue it," I added before I let Guardian finish her sentence.
"She is doing this for survival. Your general asked what she should do next. I will now tell the both of you." Guardian paused for effect. "March to the New Council. Take the earpiece and the microphone so we remain in contact. There has been development while you were gone."
"What development?" I asked.
"You are about to declare war to Maranda."
"What?! On what grounds?" Jasom asked suddenly.
"And I suggest that you leave your pet outside the door. The New Council will not take too kindly to insubordinate outbursts such as that," Guardian added. The screen went blank.
On the way out, Jasom asked, "You're not going to do it, are you? Who is she? Why do you listen to her?"
"Guardian, I'm afraid, is one of the very limited chances of survival that I have."
"Survival? You still haven't told me who's after you."
"Kefka's after me. Kefka wants to control me as he now controls Tina Branford."
"He can't do that. You're a general," Jasom reasoned. His naivete was forgivable.
"Tina Branford fell easily because she was not. And you are right; I am still here because I am a general of the army. I am more protected. But make no mistake about it, Jasom, Kefka and his Cult will find a way. He will concoct a lie to ultimately gain his excuse to put that Slave Crown on my head."
"What's a Slave Crown?"
"It's a device that makes you follow without question what is asked of you as a slave would. It's impossible to resist, and there is no known method of reversing the process. In short, it's a device that turns you into a zombie."
Jasom was silent for a moment, thinking. "That's what happened to Branford? Couldn't Professor Marguez do something about it?"
I stared straight ahead of me and frowned. "Cid created the second Slave Crown intended for me," I said simply to invoke a feeling of shock from him. It worked well.
"What?! But... h-how... w-why would he...?"
"When I told you that I can't trust anybody, I meant it."
"You trust this Guardian?"
"To an extent."
"I see. You didn't tell her about the other assassin. Or the other greater part of the stolen explosives. Or Stromsburg," Jasom observed.
"Those mysteries do not yet concern her or us just yet. We'll take it one puzzle at a time. We'll follow Guardian's lead. She's protected me. She's opened up my eyes. If she says we're going into a state of war, it may not be a matter of will at all."