I have to blink away a vivid image of him flying over a field of flowers—Why am I still getting flashbacks from that annoying dream?—before I respond with, “Thanks. I really liked your hurdy-gurdy performance and your boat.”

He lights up. “Thank you! Are you here to see your guild’s testament?”

“Yeah, I’m just waiting for Hypatia.”

“I’m here!” Hypatia sings, coming up behind me. The other Guard grunts, wanting us to move things along.

They search us—Simon’s cheeks pinkening as he pats Hypatia’s pockets—and take everything we have, including both our spoons. Once cleared, we make our way up the twisty staircase.

At the top of the landing, there’s a large circular desk. The pregnant steward I’ve been befriending, Xander, is on duty.

“Ada! Hypatia!” she greets us. “Congratulations to you both for becoming journeys.”

At the sight of Xander’s warm smile, an icy shard of guilt spears through me. Hypatia, Simon, Xander—they all trust me, and I’m planning to use that trust to steal from them.

But I know it’s the right thing to do.

Xander escorts us into the sealed glass room of the Ark and carefully retrieves the Alchemist Testament. She removes the emerald-green velvet cover embroidered with the Alchemist emblem of a mortar and pestle in front of the Tree of Life, and she shows us how to unroll the scrolls and use the index system to find what we need. We wear protective gloves so as not to damage the parchment with the oils on our hands and use a pointer to direct our eyes over the cramped calligraphy. Touching the Testaments feels… important. It’s just a scroll written by humans, yet it feels holy. I know some Makers would say it is holy. That human innovation is divine, the continuation of the work of the Conductor. It’s easy to believe that sentiment when surrounded by the evolution of human advancement so carefully collected and treasured here inside the Ark.

Thinking of it as sacred certainly doesn’t help me alleviate my guilt over appropriating it.

“What do you want to look at first?” Hypatia asks once Xander has left the room.

“Medicines,” I say resolutely.

While I see absolutely nothing about giving Sire abilities to non-Sires, no conversation with Kor or online forums could have prepared for what we do find. The breadth of information in the index alone is overwhelming. I’ve only looked at one section in the actual scrolls, and already my mind is reeling. The recipes, trials, experiments, and results. The magnitude of how much the Makers have solved, how much they can prevent, how much they can cure.