78 - Someone New

<AUTHOR'S NOTE>

Sorry for the extreme lateness. The air conditioning broke in my house, and dealing with that completely threw off my routine. Hope you enjoy!

<END AUTHOR'S NOTE>

When I wake up, I scarf down a quick breakfast of the blandest eggs I’ve ever had and some slightly burnt bacon before heading straight into the challenge room again. The Phoenix construct is still standing exactly where she disappeared last time, frozen midsentence. She doesn’t react as I enter, or as the door closes, but when I walk up and stand in front of her, she twitches a few times, seems to glitch out a bit, then starts speaking.

“The next challenge is quite different. Would you like to give it a go right now?”

“Yes, yes I would.”

“Great! Right through this door.”

She gestures behind her to a door that definitely wasn’t there before. When I look back at her from the door, she’s gone. Well, that’s interesting. I wonder why Sam cut her off mid-sentence instead of just letting her finish. 

I walk through the door and find myself in another room almost identical to the last, but instead of being empty, there’s a desk in the center, and behind the desk is another Phoenix construct. This one looks older and more mature, and has a more serious, heavy air than the other.

“Have a seat,” she says, gesturing to a chair in front of the desk. 

I sit down and wait for her to speak again. She looks me up and down as though evaluating me, and when she’s done she frowns. Rude.

“This is the second challenge,” she says. “Unlike the previous challenge, you only have five attempts. Should you fail all five, you will be ejected from the Legacy chambers permanently. The challenge is simple. I will be asking you questions, and you will answer. You may not lie. If you lie, you will instantly fail the attempt. If you give an answer that I don’t like, you will instantly fail the attempt. Do you have any questions before we begin?”

“Am I allowed to choose not to answer?”

“No. But if there is anything that you wish to keep secret, rest assured that the words you say will not leave this room. Even the Floor Lord does not know what happens in here, and I am a construct. I will be reset to the end of the challenge description the moment you exit this room, and I will not retain any memories. It is impossible for your words to leave this chambers. You can tell me about all your deepest, darkest secrets, and no one will ever know.”

“...Can I postpone my first attempt for a bit?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll be right back.”

I walk back out of the room and into the first challenge room, then call for Sam.

“Was she telling the truth just now?”

“I have no idea,” he says. “What did she say?”

I narrow my eyes. That was the correct response, but I’m still not sure I fully trust him.

“She said that you can’t see into that room, and have no idea what happens.”

“Ah, yes, that’s true,” he said. “The Phoenix was very insistent on that matter. I didn’t even know what the challenge was at first. I had to ask one of the previous attempted claimants.”

“Attempted claimants? I should have asked, but has anyone successfully claimed her Legacy?”

“Two. But I can’t say anything about them, so don’t ask.”

“Alright. Can you tell me how many people passed each challenge?”

“184 passed the first challenge, and of them, 24 passed the second challenge. And then, of course, two passed the third challenge.”

“How many have tried?”

“6,936.”

So it seems that the first challenge is the highest barrier of entry. That makes sense. I can’t see many people making it past using any of the three methods Sam mentioned. This second challenge is the easiest, though one in 9 still isn’t great odds. The third challenge is the second most difficult.

“And you actually can’t see into the room?”

“Now you’re really making me curious what kind of secrets you’re hiding,” he says with a smile. “Hiding from me first in your voidspace, and now in the challenge room.”

I grimace. That confirms that he does indeed listen to everything on the Floor, if he knows that I went into the voidspace to talk to Vanessa. That makes me quite a bit less keen to get overly friendly with him, but I also definitely shouldn’t antagonize him.

“We all have secrets,” I say, turning back to enter the trial room. 

The construct is waiting for me at the desk again, wordlessly gesturing for me to sit down.

“Do you remember what I asked last time?” I ask.

“I do not. I am reset to the end of the challenge description the moment you exit this room, and I do not retain any memories.”

“Then I’m ready to begin.”

“Excellent. First question: what is your name?”

“Bella Tompkins.”

“...Not a lie,” says the construct with a frown. “But not the whole truth. How long has this been your name?”

“...Around 23 years.”

“Truth. What was your name before that?”

“Margaret Woods.”

“Also truth, but not everything. Why did you change your name?”

“I didn’t.”

“Truth. Why was your name changed?”

“I was reborn.”

“Truth. How were you reborn?”

“I don’t know.”

“Truth. Have you been reborn multiple times?”

I hesitate, glancing around. Sam really isn’t listening, right?

“Yes.”

“Truth. How many times?”

“I don’t know.”

“Truth. What was your original name?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Truth. What was your occupation before you entered the Tower?”

“Student.”

“Truth. What were you studying?”

“Medicine.”

“Truth. Why were you studying medicine?”

“I was interested in the new advancements in medical technology.”

“Partial truth. Why else?”

Partial truth? Does she want the whole story?

“What do you mean?”

“That was not your whole reason for choosing medicine. What is the whole reason?”

“...In previous lives, I’ve also studied medicine. It’s familiar, and I wanted to see how much the field had grown.”

“More partial truths. Why did you study medicine in the first place?”

“I don’t know.”

“Lie. You have failed your first attempt.”

“Bullshit. How are you even determining this?”

“I have my ways,” she says. “And your last answer was a lie. There is no doubt about that. If you wish to pass this challenge, you must tell the truth. Would you like to begin your second attempt? If you choose to begin the second attempt before leaving these chambers, we can pick up where we left off. If you leave and come back, you will have to start over from the beginning.”

“Not yet.” 

I need to calm down and think for a bit first.

“Tell me when you are ready.”

“Alright.”

I’m not at all happy with how that first attempt went, but there’s not really anything I can do about it. I didn’t feel like I was lying. I expected another partial truth response. I don’t really know why I started down the path of medicine. I mean, I know the circumstances behind it, with the sickly parents of my third life, but that just sort of railroaded be along the path. I didn’t have a greater reason. Does she just want the story behind it?

Also, how long is this interview? Or interrogation, more like. It felt like we were barely getting started. What is she looking for? 

If I think back to the previous trial, it was searching for compatibility. Either in talent, perseverance, or affinity. This one is likely the same, if it’s a challenge to inherit her legacy. And based on what Sam said, the Phoenix isn’t looking for someone exactly like her. Is the interview just to weed out the bad apples? That wouldn’t explain an almost 90% fail rate though. Unless she has really high standards for what constitutes a good apple. 

Alright, let’s try this again. Last time, I tried giving short answers, hoping she would move on, but clearly that didn’t work. She just kept digging until she got the full story anyway. So let’s not waste any time this time.

“I’m ready,” I say.

“Why did you study medicine in the first place?”

“In my third life—well, my third life that I somewhat remember living—my parents were sickly. I had to spend most of my childhood taking care of them, and then when I reached adulthood, I continued to make it my career.”

“Truth. Did you continue taking care of your parents?”

“They passed away.”

“Truth. Why did you continue studying medicine after they passed away?”

“I was already somewhat well-versed in it. It was a viable career path.”

“Partial truth. Why else?”

Partial truth? What more does she want? 

I don’t answer immediately, and instead think back to my third life. Why did I continue with medicine? I already knew how to use oum at that point… Huh. I never really questioned that fact before. I didn’t learn it in my second life, so I must have learnt it in my first life, but I don’t remember it. Interesting.

Regardless, I already knew how to use oum, so there were many other things I could have done. So why did I stay with medicine after my father died? Was it a whim? No, I remember back right after that happened. I was pretty sad when he died, and started healing to give myself something to do to take my mind off things. Then though, I started to enjoy it. 

Is this what she’s looking for. Not just honesty to her, but honesty to myself?

“I wanted to help people,” I say.

“Truth. Moving on, what is your reason for challenging for the Legacy of the Phoenix.”

I think for a moment before answering.

“I feel that I am somehow related to the Phoenix,” I say slowly. “And I am hoping that this Legacy will help me discover why.”

“Truth. Related how?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Truth. Very interesting. Not at all what I expected. Moving on again, why did you enter the Tower?”

“To find a way to end my curse of being reborn endlessly and being unable to truly die.”

It feels very strange to say that out loud. Also, strangely freeing. Assuming Sam actually can’t hear what happens here, no one will know. Of course, I already told Vanessa, but that was much less casual. Being able to just say it out loud without worry is very strange.

“Truth. Should you complete the third challenge, how do you plan to utilize the Phoenix’s Legacy?”

“I guess that depends on what it is. If it’s just oum techniques and insight, I suppose I’ll use it to get stronger and Climb the Tower. If it’s anything more… I guess I’ll figure that out when I get there.”

“Truth. That concludes the basic information section of this challenge. From now on, should you exit the room, when I reset, I will skip the basic information section. You have passed the first stage of the challenge.”

“Was that stage just to make sure I’m not a criminal who plans to use the power for evil?”

“I can’t answer that.”

I’m really starting to hate that sentence.

“Now, for the next section…”

The second part of the interview is long and boring. It involves a lot of trolley problems, or at least the Tower’s equivalent of them, asking me about what I would do in various morally interesting situations. I’m not sure exactly what she’s looking for here, but after going through the first section, I’m accustomed to being honest, so I just give my true thoughts. A few of my answers make me worry a bit, because as the words come out of my mouth, they make me sound a bit bloodthirsty, but the construct doesn’t seem to mind. 

As easy as the interview has become, I’m getting more and more confused at how so many people failed it. She doesn’t seem to be looking for anything in particular beyond honesty. Perhaps if I had revealed myself to be a sadistic psychopath, I would have been rejected, but there’s no way that 8 of 9 people who try to claim the Legacy are like that. Is it really that hard to be honest? With 5 attempts, surely, more people would pass.

Or maybe it’s a test of decisiveness? I don’t think I’ve given many wishy-washy answers to any of these moral questions. I’ve lived long enough to know that when presented with two options, trying to straddle the line and take the middle ground goes wrong more often than not. You need to be decisive, and more than that, you need to be prepared to handle the consequences. 

After this stage of the challenge, the third stage begins, and it’s quite similar. Rather than trolley problem-esque questions though, these hypotheticals are more realistic. Things like “what would you do if you came to a Floor and found that it had been taken over by criminal Climbers who were extorting normal Climbers?” Or “How would you react to failing an Ascension Test.” Mostly, it seems like a further test of honesty and decisiveness that’s not much different from the second stage. I breeze through this one as well, still confused.

As I prepare for the fourth stage, which I believe is the actual difficult one, suddenly the construct folds her hands and smiles.

“Congratulations, you’ve passed!”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“What was the point of all that then?”

“I have a slight confession,” she says. “I lied.”

My stomach sinks. 

“These responses aren’t entirely secret.”

“Why would you do that?”

“They won’t be shared though, I can assure you of that,” she continues. “Your direct answers will be kept completely hidden. However, they will be used to build a profile of you. The profile will not contain specifics, but will contain extraneous information that I have gleaned from your answers. Only one person will ever have access to this profile, and they have sworn on their core that they will not divulge the information within it without your permission.”

Well, at least Sam has some sense of propriety.

“Fine. Whatever.”

It sucks, but it’s not that big of a deal. I’m not sure how they’re building a profile without any specific information, but hopefully it’s not too bad.

“The third challenge will begin in 24 hours,” says the construct. “I request that you please return to the antechamber while the challenge is prepared.”

Return to the antechambers? It’s not already set up? Something weird is going on here.

“Alright,” I say, standing up while eying her suspiciously.

I leave the second challenge room, and as soon as the door closes behind me, it vanishes, as though it was never there in the first place. When the doors to the first challenge room close, I hear the sound of scraping stone, and when I try to push it back open, I find that it is locked. 

“Sam,” I call, hoping for some answers.

He doesn’t respond. Even weirder. This is all very strange. Has the third challenge already begun?

As I make my way back into my room, I keep all my senses peeled for any signs of unusual activity. However, nothing happens. During the entire allotted 24 hours, nothing happens. I do some suboptimal cultivation, unable to reach a complete state of focus due to my alertness, and by the end, I regret not just diving all the way in. I could have processed another mushroom or two. 

Well, too late for that. The time for the third challenge is here, and since it seems Sam might be directly involved, I probably shouldn’t keep him waiting. 

As I walk back to the chamber, Trinity appears on my shoulder, seemingly sensing that something important is about to happen. When I return to the chambers, just as with the first two challenges, the Phoenix is waiting for me. However, unlike the other two, this one isn’t a construct.