Itor leads the way after we dismount, walking directly up to the double-door with Magna and me close behind him. He begins speaking to the guards outside the door, and one of them gestures to me and seems to ask a question. Itor begins to respond, but Magna interrupts him, speaking to the guards for him.

The guards look at each other, then at me with great interest, and then open the doors to let us in. We walk into an entryway of sorts, filled with decorations such as paintings and statuettes. The floor is covered in a red carpet and the walls are glossy wood panels.

Itor speaks to another guard inside, who immediately leads us through a few rooms - which seem to be waiting areas, full of similar decorations as well as seating - until we get to another set of double doors.

The guard stops us there and walks through. Itor and Magna - who finally lets go of my arm - take a seat in the room. I follow, sitting in an unoccupied chair resting against the wall.

This place is obviously important. The elaborate decorations, size of the building, and level of security in this place obviously points toward it housing something of significance. Looking at the evidence I’ve gathered so far, I think I understand what’s going on.

My appearance/awakening seemed to be some sort of significant or special event. I can tell that much because of the reactions of the people around me. They seem to not know exactly what to do, considering the fact that there was so much discussion happening when I awoke and it took a while before I was taken anywhere.

In addition, Itor and Magna seem to be at some sort of disagreement as to what to do with me, considering their argument before. Seeing that, it would only be natural for them to go to a higher-up and get advice on what to do next.

As for who that higher-up is, judging from the state of this place’s technology, combined with the grandeur of the place we’re entering, I’d think a monarch. Probably something like a king or queen, or maybe a pope if that imagery I saw on the outside of the building really is religious. Of course, it’s entirely possible that I could be going to see someone entirely different, or it could be a counsel of people.

Normally, I’d be worried in this situation, since if some sort of anomaly happens, it’s natural to experiment on it, and I’d think that would result in both my freedoms being limited and uncomfortable tests being performed on me.

In this case, however, I think that my chances are more likely to be in the range of assimilation, rather than experimentation. I feel that way because Itor at least got Magna to make an attempt at teaching me the language, and I don’t think they would do that to someone they planned on dissecting later in the day.

In addition, their general attitude toward my containment has been remarkably lax. While

yes, Magna has only rarely let go of my arm ever since we left the room I woke up in, and likely only let go now because I’m surrounded by guards, they haven’t imposed any other restrictions on me, such as handcuffs or chains, so they clearly don’t see it as incredibly likely that I’ll attempt an escape.

People have trouble seeing things from others’ perspectives and generally just assume the truths they tell will be immediately believed, while their lies will need justification or will be met with suspicion, and this is no exception.

In many cases, if a person were planning on harming me in the future, they would think I would assume that and distrust them, even if I have no reason to believe it. And if they were planning on keeping me safe, they would most likely think I would just assume that, and not give great consideration to the possibility that I would distrust them and attempt to escape.

Of course, that’s just a tendency of people and not a hard-fast rule, so all it does is help me develop a statistical probability.

That said, I would really prefer that I be taken to a singular ruler rather than a counsel of people. Generally speaking, counsels tend to end up relying less on empathy to make their decisions, since they’re generally created to help make decisions relying less on emotion, and more on logic.

My main obstacle is the lack of an ability to communicate complex ideas, so I’ll have to make the most of body language and facial expression when dealing with this person. I think my best bet is to look as pathetic and boring as possible. That will help both in instilling a feeling of pity and in making me look like it wouldn’t be interesting studying me.

This only has a limited effect, of course, so my next goal would be to try and figure out some sort of better way to communicate with everyone. That’s more of a long-term objective, though; learning a language through osmosis is incredibly difficult for an adult.

Once I do learn the language, though, I’m very confident in my ability to talk my way out of any situation. I’ve always been pretty good at talking my way out of situations with cops.

I know a good deal about Itor and Magna already, and I even have extra leverage going for me - I’m in some way considered special or unique. That could be used to instill fear, awe, or simply as a threat that I’ll kill myself and destroy their test subject if they don’t do what I want.

The door opens and the same guard walks out. He says something, and Itor and Magna get up, grab my arms, and take me into the room. The guard follows us in, trailing behind us.

This new room is gigantic. It reminds me of a grand hall. The ceiling reaches about thirty to forty feet into the air, with long rafters stretching into the arched middle of the roof. The roof itself seems to be made of thick wooden beams.

The floor is made of polished stone, with a carved walkway leading down the center of the sixty-foot-long room. Halfway down, on either side of the walkway, wooden staircases begin, which lead up about five feet, creating a raised platform that runs around the back-half of the room’s walls. The middle walkway stays at ground level.

Dozens of large, intricately-carved columns run down the length of the hall, standing equally between the carved walkway and the edge of the raised platform. The walls and the columns have torches set on their sides, giving the room a burning illumination.

The walls themselves are covered in paintings, murals, and tablets with writing on them, and the raised platform is littered with tables and chairs, which look as if they’re meant to be used for dining.

Impressive life-sized statues line the edge of the platform, facing inward so that it looks as if they’re staring at us as we enter. I don’t recognize any of the people depicted, but it’s a mix of different men and women, each with an air of grandeur and life that was clearly carved into them.

One of them holds a flame in one hand, and a charred skull in the other. A mix of some sort of white and black stones are used to make the man himself and the skull, and the flame is a flat object made of stained glass.

A woman with eight octopus-like tentacles sprouting from her back and a large mouth set directly on her stomach stands out among the mainly-humanoid figures. Despite the monster-like imagery, her face is glowing with a loving smile.

At the very back of the room on a raised platform is an empty throne, gorgeously made. It has several gemstones embedded into it, and is made of what seems to be pure silver. It looks too big for a human to sit in in the first place, so I’m not sure who it’s meant for.

Standing directly next to the throne is another one of those statues - this one noticeably larger than the rest. It seems to be half-finished, with the bottom half a slab of uncarved, rough rock, and the top half an incredibly detailed depiction of a muscular man. When I look at it more closely, though, I realize it isn’t unfinished. The statue depicts the man holding a chisel to the uncarved bottom half, as if he is carving his own body out of the stone.

Sitting at the end of the walkway is a simple rectangular table made of wood. It has eight total seats surrounding it, one of which is filled by a man wearing a fur coat. He has a nicely groomed beard with a few gray hairs in it, a chiseled jawline, and fierce eyes.

This table is directly below the gigantic throne on the raised platform above it. The man calls out and beckons us forth. Itor and Magna lead the way, dragging me behind as usual. Their backs are straighter than they normally keep them. Yep. I think it’s safe to say this is who we came here to meet.

The man - or, honestly, he looks a lot like a king to me, so I’m just gonna call him the king - is sitting at the head of the table, facing the doors we came through. Once I get closer to him, I examine the king’s facial and bodily features more closely and compare it to each of the statues surrounding us, especially the one standing next to the throne.

Nope. He clearly doesn’t match any of them. Magna seats me at the foot of the table, having me sit directly opposite to the king. She and Itor sit on either side of me. I take measures to make myself look as pathetic and boring as possible, like I planned before.

I slump my shoulders forward slightly and look downward at about a ten degree angle. This still gives me a clear view of each person’s face, but gives the impression that I’m depressed or mentally inactive. I relax my eyelids, closing them just slightly enough to change the way I look but not be drastically noticeable, and unfocus my eyes, giving me a “thousand-yard stare.”

I’ve practiced this dozens of times. It was important to look like just another piece of scenery whenever I used to see troublesome-looking people come near my begging spots.

The conversation begins, with both of them speaking to the king. Itor seems to take the lead in the conversation and is clearly the most enthusiastic one. Magna seems to take a much more stoic role out of the two of them. It feels clear to me that Itor is the passionate one here, whereas Magna seems to want to keep his optimism in check.

In the beginning of the discussion, the king looks incredibly excited - almost rivaling the enthusiasm of Itor. After a little more of them explaining, though, he mainly just seems confused and concerned.

I hear my initial being spoken a couple times about three minutes in, meaning Itor most likely got to the point where he is talking about my ability to understand his request for my name.

They sit in silence for a couple seconds; the king is clearly pondering something. Eventually, gazing at me, he speaks. He seems to be giving a command. Magna asks a question and he immediately responds, his eyes fixed at me. He’s clearly confident in what he came up with in that moment of thinking.

The conversation continues, now with the king doing most of the talking. Itor and Magna occasionally chime in, but it’s usually just a short statement or a question that is answered quickly.

At some point, the king calls over a nearby guard and tells him something. The guard rushes off. Eventually, after about ten minutes of total speaking, the discussion comes to a close. Itor and Magna stand, grab my arms yet again, and take me out of the building the way we came.