“You are stubborn, William. I can see that you don’t like to change, but I don't think you are cowardly enough to run away from it. Roshwell couldn't change it too much, right?”

  “What about it? You think crying about it changes anything? I am not a coward.” William argued and didn't look at her at all.

  “Not a human too?”

  “I am.”

  “Then don’t cover your ass in excuses and tell me what you think you have experienced.”

  “Nightmares,” William said begrudgingly, and didn’t want to go deep at all. Mi-Yung insisted on going further. “It is… Rank 0 stuff. Really bad stuff, when I think of it. I am realizing it way too late. It is Emblem. Darks… and dead. I was young. Five, then six… seven… eight. I don’t think I am even a kid anymore.”

  “Maybe. Is that your copying mechanism?”

  “Cop… what?” He didn't get it.

  “Walkers often deal with stuff on their own, or in their head. Some don’t and require patching. I don’t hate yours. I just want to see it better. Not that I care about some bolt or something. Or murders.”

  While glancing away, he took a deep breath and changed the topic. “What about these floors? Is there something good there? Ellie liked these books, but many of them are tricky or completely unrelated to anything I want.”

  “Do you care about technology floor? Are you interested in mechanics, or a second job? You? Well, it’s not like it’s impossible. Since Ellie showed you around, what have you in mind?” she offered and didn’t dwell on troubling him further since it didn't look like a good idea. Preserving this floor and everything.

  She also tested him a little there, and he got it under control. Wasn't it good?

  “Not sure. It's not a big deal if you think I shouldn't do it.” William muttered and hoped things were about to change.

  Because if they didn't, he might have to run away from her simply because it was clever.

  “I don’t know about that. Walkers have talent and often a time for foreign activities that could be far from typical Walker stuff. Technology is vast, and most supporting departments need such people, let alone Walkers fit for these positions. Technology is something else for the military, but the military wouldn’t be here without technology. Unless you already have the basics of Enginists or Machinists, I don't suggest dwelling on it at all. If you need it later on, it gets much easier with brain sequences or thinking power. Not that I suggest it. Sometimes, it is better to know what one is good at.”

  “Like what?”

  “What?” Mi-Yung hummed and thought about it twice. “Molds are an odd way to put it into words, and Arcana or Vectors have their differences. One is vast, the other focused and better at shaping. I don't know what you can handle. Unless you have great genius talent, worrying about technology won’t change anything. Being Walker is already plenty to go through.” She said with great importance and facts.

  It didn't disappoint William. He kind of agreed with it and wondered what kind of Molds he would have. On its own, a Mold was a word mentioned quite a few times on the upper floors, and even more by Walkers and many notes.

  It described weapon-making methods from Arcana and core features of what Emblems might change and look like. Luke’s axe was that, and his armor was probably also related to Molds.

  Vectors were another well-known term. They described a type of Walkers without broad Arcana at their core. Vectors were simply different, and were focused variant of Arcana, often acting in unpredictable forms. In general, their presence was still all about Arcana, but the appearance was not, and its usage was a little bit tricky.

  A Vector could be small, tiny, or big. There could be tens of thousands of them or even millions, and this game of numbers was endless and critical in the Ranks of Vector Type Walkers.

  Either made of a dense conglomeration of Arcana that mutated and changed, they swirled into geometric shapes and lines that were far from the mist or watery flow of pure Arcana.

  Lines, ropes, geometrical mix of phenomena, and many other endeavoring ideas could put variables into Skills and Molds alike. They could be more important than the core shape of the Emblem, or where its Localization was.

  Still, it was all Arcana, so William wondered why these differences created only three types of Walkers.

  Elementalists, Vector Type, and Mutants were about it. Was it everything? William doubted that ever since he left this library yesterday, and wanted to touch on this topic today.

  He planned to do it with Mi-Yung, or via his card, if she were unwilling.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Which seemed untrue, as he was alone with her and she didn’t seem very hesitant. She already mentioned Rank 0 and the Examination, so William wasn't in a hurry and agreed with her again. It became much easier when he discovered her quick expressions and reasoning.

  She wanted to understand him and probed for his secrets.

  “Fine. I didn't think this through. I took military Walkers as this big cohesive force, and youths like me have fresh growth. I guess a lot of them are kept in the dark for a reason, and they train their bodies and minds early because of it. My idea about the Outside will give me… what? Is that even a privilege?”

  “I think so.”

  “So, what do you think? You are acting strange, Mi-Yung.”

  “Emblems is why. That is your privilege.”

  “You mean my parents. Walkers as a duo, right?”

  “You caught the fly right on the dot.” Mi-Yung judged she shouldn't run around this topic like a fly. “Maybe you have a dual-type Emblem, or something strange could shift your entire body and Emblem or System at Rank 1. It is also red, and… decent. It's a worthy worry, William.”

  “You said it yesterday. Am I a research worth giving someone else? Is that a problem of my parents? They hid me for a reason, and I heard about the Emblem Association, or how resources play around this land. I am like a prime specimen for those science people. How are they called again? Heads?”

  “None of that is important.” Mi-Yung argued. “You are learning. You are no pig or an object.”

  “Who said I want to be or am? You.”

  Mi-Yung turned her head and visibly shuddered in an inscrutable eye gleam.

  “Time is young, William. Let's not talk about it.”

  “That I might be a key to something valuable?”

  “Or odd. More odd. Anyway, let's go.”

  “Up or down? Aren't machines out there? I know Walkers are using them all the time.” William said, and was surprised she got so nervous and different.

  “If they do, does that mean you should do the same?”

  “You said I could.”

  “That's true. We do use technologies, but using and learning about it are two completely different realms. You don’t need to spend weeks or months learning how a machine works. There are people for that sort of thing, and you might become one later if you really want to. I doubt that, frankly.”

  “I watched where we landed. Luke was there with a bunch of them. Hangars. Factories. Weapons. Vehicles. I don’t see Walkers use them often, but they know stuff. I don’t.”

  “Then learn in whatever choice you will make. I mean, there are odd fools who are only interested in machines, while being Walkers as well. They are great weirdos, as they often say. They aren't strange. Many Walkers have their preferences. No one will force them to stop being interested in whatever they want, as that is their System and force. And as long as their value is great, what’s the matter? They might focus on demands, and most supporting groups are like that.”

  “I see,” William said with a shrug.

  “At the end of the day, it depends on what you and your Emblem is like. Yours is red, but that doesn’t mean it can't touch some Wind, Electricity, Space, or Earth. But it is unlikely to go in that sort of direction since… your father, well, those are the basics. Let's say you want to touch vague senses like the spirituality, blood, muscles, and so on. Add to that myriad of Molds, and you can create anything as a Walker, but should you? What a question. Imagination and control and cycles can be true limits and the face and aspects of your Emblem can be etched like a rule.”

  Mi-Yung explained a bunch of terms that she thought William would appreciate.

  His frown only deepened.

  Mi-Yung had many personal experiences and deployments Outside. She met all kinds of Walkers and people in her life. Some of them were long dead, devoid of life, or their free will.

  Ellie wouldn't be able to say things like that at all, as these topics came from Mi-Yung's heart.

  “What’s next?” William secured every single book’s location in his memory and hoped she wouldn't keep up with these demands on the upper floors.

  Although they were nothing but suggestions, William took them for clever comments that Mi-Yung mentioned because they were meaningful.

  In his mind, the next floors were much more impressive, and they should be less overwhelming because Ellie loved them and showed him almost every little corner.

  “You have been to most floors with Ellie, so who needs to go there?”

  “Yep. So... Next floor is?”

  “Entertainment Floor, as many youngsters say. A ton of culture and historical stuff is there. There are even movies, some TV shows, and all kinds of books or comics. One could never read them all in their lifetime, so let's not get there or say it is shocking. I bet Ellie showed it off and blew your mind,” Mi-Yung added with an underwhelming tone.

  She couldn't openly state how long she spent there in her youth, or how much Kaufman barked at her to be careful with these priceless comics or manga. She would not admit it in front of Willian, in hopes of not ruining her image as a senior Walker and his savior.

  It was her wishful thinking, and thanks to their peculiar first-time meeting, maybe she was giving her expectations way too much weight and credit.

  William wouldn't care, as he heard something interesting instead. “Even movies? I didn't see that. I can see their appeal, so… the museum or history, or... the upper floors?” William tried to guess where she was going.

  “No time to waste. Let's go to the museum. I have a lot of interesting stories and tight secrets about it.” With that said, and with a smile on her face, Mi-Yung let William away.

  ***

  Museum. Places of the oldest depictions of history waited for many visitors, yet compared to the other floors, it was emptier and larger, and also deadly quiet.

  Older generations cared about it, so why couldn’t the new one do the same?

  So what if the sight of the past was almost fake? So what if the Dawn and current struggles were nothing like the past?

  There were weird ideas, like fishing and looking for interest lost in age and history. Research made by groups of curious people was a history of its own. For thousands of years, it was natural.

  Historians. Archeologists. Seekers of old history. There were many ways one could see museums, but at the present age, they were more like shadows and steps of the past.

  In the Federation, this place presented the threading lines of history as one of the rarest interesting projects of a couple of Walkers. It kept growing over the years until it became something greater under the eyes and hands of Kaufmans.

  Well, only one of them truly mattered, while the rest of the surroundings didn't ask privy or private questions as to why the hell they even care about all this nonsense.

  It wasn't important, or so many detested and hated that vision. It dwindled considerably over the years. In the past decade, a lot of things about this museum changed, and the Federation adapted because it wasn’t possible to scrutinize the past. After all, the dawn on its own was also a history, and new generations had to learn to deal with it.