Li Mei inhaled the scent of old books with a satisfied sigh. Sneaking into the manor's study on the top floor was impossible during the day with staff walking about doing their jobs, but at night darkness and silence ruled the big house. Sneaking around then was easy.

After thirty consecutive days of rigorous exercise her body recovered enough to not collapse after five minutes of walking, so she expanded her range of operation. Jogging up and down the stairs was great exercise, and she was able to access parts of the house previously outside her reach - including the laundry room, where she pilfered a few spare pieces of clothing.

Nothing fashionable, nothing that fit well, just a few large shirts that went down to her knees and some undergarments. Better than wearing just a torn and bloody burlap sack dress, anyway.

Even better, she could reach the study on the top floor to fulfill the Quest wanting her to pirate some books with her cheat Interface.

Knowledge was power, so of course Li Mei loved books. Adalrich Agilo apparently agreed with the sentiment. His study was full of books, wide shelves as high as the ceiling lining most of the walls. An antique wooden pedestal desk bearing an ornately carved modesty panel sat in the center of the room like a silent monolith, accompanied by an enormous rolling armchair. On the desk was a cluster of potted mushrooms illuminating the whole room with a strong blue glow, and a shiny magitech computer.

Transparent quartz crystal plates an inch thick made up the keyboard and monitor. Circuit-like gold patterns engraved the backs of each plate in appealing designs. The keyboard lay flat on the desk, small and narrow compared to the wide and tall vertical monitor. There didn't seem to be anything resembling a computer mouse.

Li Mei ran a finger across the surface of the keyboard panel.

Cool to the touch and smooth as silk! She took a moment to dream of a day when she had a fancy magitech computer of her own, in a lovely office with big windows and a nice view. Then she pulled a random book off a shelf and cracked it open.

44 never learned to read. That would require being taught, and no one bothered with such a tedious task for slaves like her. Li Mei could speak the local language because she inherited memories of 44 learning to talk, but the books held unintelligible squiggles of lines as far as she was concerned.

She stared at the first page with a frustrated scowl.

To add a whole book to the Archive she had to glance at each page separately. Li Mei sat in the big armchair and flipped through more than 300 pages, desperately hoping the book she grabbed was some sort of encyclopedia and not a romance novel or autobiography. Her feet swung several inches above the floor, her small figure dwarfed by the intimidating size of the chair and desk together.

The Quest to get EXP for recording books was repeatable. Since she didn't have to read the contents it took less than ten minutes to skim the entire book, so she reached for another.

And another.

And another.

She sighed heavily as she glanced absently through a book with color illustrations of various weird plants. 'Congee, char siu, baozi, dim sum, beef chow fun, mapo tofu... I wonder if they exist in this world?' Her stomach growled, clinging to the idea of a home-cooked meal. She barely even saw the beautiful illustrations, images of steaming hot dishes and savory sauces dancing through her head in their place.

Li Mei was choosing another book when she heard a sound that sent a chill down her spine.

The doorknob rattled.

Li Mei spun on her heel, glancing around in panic. Other than the desk, bookshelves, and chair, the study was bare of furniture. There was a lone window, but it was a solid panel of ornate stained glass and didn't have a curtain in front of it.

The door opened inward, and with no other choice Li Mei dived under the desk. Her knees and palms burned from sudden friction against the rug but she didn't dare cry out. A slave who was missing for thirty days shouldn't be found in her Owner's study in the middle of the night! Especially by someone who also wasn't supposed to be there!

The study door clicked shut. Muffled light footsteps hit the carpeted floor in a steady pattern - whoever it was, they weren't nervous about being somewhere they shouldn't.

A pair of long legs wearing black slacks moved leisurely into view. The person sat in the armchair, their knee just inches away from Li Mei's pale face, which was reflected oddly in the polished surface of some very shiny dress shoes. Slaves didn't get nice slacks or fancy shoes, and the regular staff were all normal people with proper working footwear.

Who in the world wore such shiny shoes while sneaking into someone else's study in the middle of the night?

Li Mei squeezed herself against the modesty panel, covering her mouth with a hand to prevent exhalations hitting the person's leg. She focused on the nearest limb but Scan didn't activate to tell her the person's name.

Instead, it just told her the pants were indeed black slacks.

'Are you kidding me? Do I need to see their face?!' She stifled a few creative curses, drawing the only reasonable conclusion she could think of. Sticking out her head to glance at the intruder's face seemed like a bad plan, so she gave up on the idea of Scanning them.

Shiny shoes tapped an awkward impatient rhythm, while above her head she heard faint beeping noises and the unmistakable staccato of typing fingers.

Seconds stretched into minutes. Li Mei felt her heart attempting to escape through her throat, pounding so loud she feared the intruder would discover her presence. Sensation drained from her extremities, replaced by a fuzzy feeling of static.

After more than thirty minutes the person stood up and walked out from behind the desk. Li Mei relaxed, tension easing out of her shoulders. Flexing her fingers and rubbing her wiggling toes, she tried to ease feeling back into her numb limbs.

Until she realized she didn't hear the door open again.

She glanced up to see a pair of eyes staring back at her.

Li Mei bit her tongue to prevent a scream, covering her mouth with both hands. The shoes were once again in front of the desk, her own face distorted in their shiny reflection. Long fingers reached towards the girl's face, turning around to press a palm against the bottom of the desk's sliding drawer the instant before the hand brushed her nose.

Inside the desk a mechanism clicked followed by a melodic string of chirps. The person sat down again, forcing Li Mei back into the corner.

"The Comm Circuit is encrypted?" A hoarse voice croaked, slightly distorted and muffled.

"It's insulting you think to even ask that," the person in the chair answered. The legs were long and slender but the voice was undoubtedly masculine in nature, a heavily accented lazy drawl that didn't exist in 44's memories. Li Mei had no idea who the man could be.

"Then report. Quickly."

"The situation remains stable. Several subjects of the recent batches are testing positive for the latest serum. Casualties have been reduced by 32% compared to last quarter. Production's in the red, we need more Salamandris extract since the mishap with the Reddus moths."

"Testing positive? Finally. What is the success rate?"

"R&D is focusing on lowering the casualty percentage."

"The success rate!" The hoarse voice snapped.

Li Mei saw the man in the chair clench his fist until his knuckles turned white. "There hasn't been a viable success since the 108, if we could recover the files-"

"We cannot have a repeat of that disaster! Sector 13 was destroyed, I'll not have mine follow suit. That damned research will stay buried. Casualty rate can be lowered once there's a foundation of success, change your priorities."

"As you say." The man hit his fist against his knee, leg trembling in agitation, but his vocal tone showed no hint of distress. Li Mei would have been impressed under other circumstances. If she wasn't stuck under a desk doing her best impression of empty air.

"Don't disappoint me."

Silence reigned for several minutes. Li Mei saw a spark of yellow light and smelled fragrant smoke, as the man leaned back and let out a deep sigh. She saw what was clearly some sort of cigarette held delicately between his fingers. Ash dropped on the carpet, but the man neither noticed nor cared.

Once the cigarette burned to nothing the man got up and left. Li Mei heard the door open and close, but she still waited another ten minutes before she dared to move her numb arms and legs.

To her left a holoscreen proclaimed a new Quest, which she accepted so fast the System seemed to lag for a moment.

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[Your First Clue]

★★★★★

Find out more regarding the 108, Sector 13, and the strange night intruder.

Reward: 5000 EXP

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