Time Remaining: 729 Days.
The urgency of the apocalypse had settled into a cold, hard resolve. The "Unholy Trinity" (Arthur, Julian, Zack) began their double lives. By day, they were students. By night, they were engineers in the Sub-Basement.
"We cannot stay in the basement forever," Arthur said one evening, a week after the discovery. "We need access to Alice's data while we are in class. We need a remote terminal."
Arthur stood over the stone workbench. Scattered across it were components: thin sheets of slate, copper wiring, and several glowing mana crystals.
"You want to carry a library in your pocket?" Zack asked, squinting at Arthur's blueprint.
"I want to build an iScroll," Arthur corrected. "Project Name: The Slate."
"iScroll?" Julian raised an eyebrow. "Is that ancient tongue?"
"It's a brand name," Arthur muttered. "Don't worry about it."
...
The problem wasn't magic; it was miniaturization.
"The Atherian Pillars store data in quartz crystals," Arthur explained, holding up a small, flat gemstone. "I have managed to etch a retrieval rune onto this slate. If we link it to Alice's core frequency, it can 'stream' the information."
"Stream?" Julian asked.
"Wireless communication," Arthur said. "Like telepathy, but for rocks."
He handed Julian a soldering iron (heated by a fire rune). "Weld this connection. Don't shake. If you cross the streams, the slate explodes."
"I have the hands of a surgeon," Julian scoffed, taking the iron.
....
Three hours later, the device was finished.
It looked like a rectangular tablet made of polished black stone, framed in brass. The screen was a thin sheet of mica crystal.
Arthur pressed his thumb against the activation rune.
Hum.
The screen flickered. A soft blue light illuminated the dark workshop. Text appeared on the stone surface.
> CONNECTION ESTABLISHED. > USER: ADMIN. > BATTERY: 98%.
"It works," Zack whispered in awe.
Arthur tapped the screen. He opened the [Map]app. A detailed schematic of the Academy appeared. He opened the [Chat] app.
"Julian, take the other prototype," Arthur pointed to a second slate on the table. "Go to the other side of the room."
Julian walked twenty paces away.
Arthur typed:Testing. Is Julian an idiot? Y/N.
A moment later, Julian's slate buzzed. He looked down, scowled, and typed furiously.
Arthur's screen buzzed.
> Julian:I can burn you from here, Pendelton.
Arthur grinned. "Instant long-range communication. No courier pigeons. No magic mirrors. Just data."
"This changes everything," Julian said, walking back, staring at the screen. "We can cheat on every test."
"We can coordinate," Arthur corrected. "And more importantly, we can monitor the Mana Pressure from our dorms."
He tapped a final icon: [The Doomsday Clock].
The countdown ticked silently in the corner of the screen.
End of Chapter 29