‘You’re thinking of offering to leave, Winters,’ Vale said flatly. ‘I don’t need to be a detective to see the thought crossing your mind. But don’t blame yourself. It isn’t your fault that these people have no morals.’
‘No,’ Irene argued, ‘but now that I know their intentions, it is my responsibility.’
‘So you do propose to leave here?’ Shan Yuan demanded sharply.
‘We don’t have any other choice. If Kai and I go elsewhere and they follow us, we can at least draw them into an ambush on ground of our choosing—’
‘Unlikely,’ Vale cut her off. ‘You must still be suffering from the effects of that gas. Do you seriously think they’ll follow you into a trap?’
‘I can set a perfectly good trap, thank you very much,’ Irene said haughtily. ‘So far they’ve been able to choose their ground, so we’ve been at their mercy. This is why we have to leave. Don’t you agree, Inspector Singh?’
She’d expected him, as a Londoner and a police officer, to agree with her. So it was rather to her surprise that Inspector Singh said, ‘Perhaps you haven’t fully thought the matter through, Miss Winters.’
‘What do you mean?’
He set down his pen, giving her his full attention. ‘I mean, Miss Winters, that if you are seen to leave to protect our good city, Lord and Lady Guantes will use this against you. The more you try to lure them away, the more they’ll threaten us to force your compliance. Which is why I think a different solution’s needed here. You pay your taxes, Miss Winters, don’t you?’
‘Of course,’ Irene said, leaving out on my legal earnings, at least.
‘Very well: think of this help as a state benefit.’ Leaving Irene feeling rather as if she’d been stampeded by a previously helpful sheep, he turned to Shan Yuan. ‘Your attention in this matter is greatly appreciated, sir. May we ask you to share the information you’ve brought?’
‘The data on the laptop was very informative,’ Shan Yuan said, with a sudden keen enthusiasm which reminded Irene of Kai. ‘Much of it was a high-level discussion of artificial intelligence. I also found the blueprints of a project which seems directly linked to your current problems.’
‘What project?’ Irene asked.
‘To summarize,’ Shan Yuan said, his tone shifting easily to a lecturer’s didactic manner, ‘its aim is to recreate the personality of a dead person.’ He let that sink in as those in the room murmured in astonishment. ‘This is achieved, firstly, by creating an artificial simulation of the deceased. Secondly, this is implanted into a living person under certain specific conditions. Apparently “an extreme plasticity of environment” is also required. This refers to a high-chaos world – to use a lay-person’s terminology.’ Irene could almost hear Shan Yuan sniff condescendingly at this. ‘Under the right conditions, the living person would be transformed into the dead one – the original mind extinguished, the body even taking on the physical characteristics of the new host. This could be repeated as many times as necessary, superimposing the stored artificial simulation on a living victim.’
A horrified silence filled the room. ‘Lord Guantes,’ Irene finally said. ‘That’s what happened to him.’
‘What you’ve told me fits with the project description,’ Shan Yuan agreed. ‘And as well as the process taking place in a high-chaos world, the imprinted subject needs to be a Fae. However, the documents suggest that the imprinted body doesn’t last long. Physical or mental breakdown ensues within just a couple of weeks – a month at the most. Unfortunately, it was a high-level overview, so the granular details of processes involved were lacking. But Alberich was mentioned as a contributor – and it appears that he’s retained information essential to the process.’
Irene frowned. As with any jigsaw, once one had the border assembled, it was easier to see how the other pieces related to one another. ‘Perhaps the key to the process isn’t chaotic power – or not chaos alone. Perhaps the Language is important somehow. If Alberich is contributing something only he could offer, it would interest many Fae – not only the Guantes.’ This wasn’t just personal any more. If Alberich possessed this sort of bargaining tool, he’d be able to find countless unscrupulous allies and turn them against the Library – always his ultimate goal.
Shan Yuan shrugged. ‘You know the potential of your Language better than I do. But it does explain why only Alberich could provide the missing details. Perhaps if you had a closer look at the full process, you could hazard a guess at how the Language is used.’
‘No, thank you,’ Irene said with a shudder. ‘Do you know if the dead person, the one who is imprinted upon a new body, realizes what’s been done to them afterwards?’
‘I don’t believe it would be obvious to them – unless they were told, of course.’
Irene remembered Lord Guantes’ words, during her Guernsey mission. He’d said he’d cooperated with her enemies but also said, ‘I have been betrayed. I have been used.’ ‘I think the first Lord Guantes I met must have known what had happened to him. Either he was told, or somehow he found out. Maybe someone gave him the project documentation to explain the process, or he found it for himself. It would have made him understand that he was a . . . I don’t know what the right term is for it. A simulated personality? A recreation of one?’
‘It’s as close to necromancy as anything else I’ve come across, Winters,’ Vale said. ‘Not the least because it requires the sacrifice of another intelligent being. Was there anything else useful on the laptop?’
‘There was also a set of news articles on the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona – in Spain. These covered strange events witnessed there recently. I’m not sure why these are relevant, but they must be there for a reason. But it’s unclear within which world this Sagrada Familia is located.’ Shan Yuan shrugged. ‘A high-chaos world, presumably.’
‘Under the cathedral,’ Irene quoted to herself, remembering Lord Guantes’ words. ‘The dark archive . . .’
‘Were any email addresses or other contact details supplied, connected to the project?’ Singh asked, frowning. Irene hadn’t expected him to be acquainted with such things, but maybe Vale had updated him on other worlds’ developments. Or maybe there were technological advances going on here of which Irene simply wasn’t aware.
‘Unfortunately not,’ Shan Yuan said. ‘I specifically looked for a way to trace Alberich too, and there was nothing.’
Kai had remained silent, somehow more formal in his brother’s presence. Now he spoke. ‘Possibly Madame Sterrington can identify the Barcelona mentioned in those articles, when she arrives. Or her Fae contacts may have heard of this artificial intelligence research.’
‘We can’t share this with her,’ Shan Yuan snapped. ‘Don’t be foolish, Kai. Do you want to see this information spread to more Fae?’
‘She’s extremely well connected, and the most likely person on this world to give us useful information,’ Vale said. ‘Are you here to help us save your brother’s life, your highness, or is this merely your idea of entertainment?’