Keynes stopped paying attention when the other three men moved on with their discussion to different political topics which had nothing to do with him. He’d listened to their conversation about Syberius Sael because he felt responsible for the consequences of lying to Andre Turtelli.

The tablet, Keynes came to realise, was something else. At first, it’d looked like a commercially available model but once Keynes dived into it, things got crazy quickly.

Through the tablet, Keynes had access to his entire company. He could see how many departments there were, their status, members, performance, plans and more. He asked about Haef and received a brief overview of the crafter’s activity alongside comments of varying levels of seniority. It looked like not only they four had such tablets. Of the two that Keynes recognised were Andrew Gunnar, the current Head of Emerald City and Cyrano, the Head of Rifts.

Colours tell what information and comments are available to each level of seniority, Alice mused, making Keynes frown.

How do you know? He asked.

Can you not tell?

Not … really.

These tablets run on mana and I sense a lot of formations and runes incorporated in their design. They are only a step down from a device-System connection. I … am kind of surprised that you have—I mean the humankind—figured out this so quickly. For a very brief moment, Alice’s voice changed and she sounded distant and mechanical.

Intrigued by her words, Keynes allowed some of his spiritual energy into the tablet. She was right. The tablet was complex beyond anything Keynes had ever seen. He couldn’t begin to guess the roles of most of the functions in it. Still his Superior stage offered him some insight into the scheme of things. He followed threads that resonated with his Spirit but the device felt incomplete. Were they trying to bridge the gap between the tablet and the System? But to what end?

Master… Alice sighed. Is it not obvious? Once they are past that step, all the information from the tablet will be accessible from the level of the System.

But… Keynes stilled, imaging the scope and consequences of the endeavour his company was pulling off. Despite the numerous applications he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. How invasive would this be?

It would be very invasive but at the same time secure. The System is unhackable, Alice informed him.

Connection isn’t, Keynes countered.

They— she froze. Well, that is the limit of knowledge I can offer.

Annoyed, he turned to the other men.

“What’s your plan with these tablets?”

Wagner stopped speaking and glanced at him. Columbus only squinted while Esopp stared at his tablet.

“What brought that on?”

“This thing is very advanced but feels incomplete.”

Wagner nodded in agreement.

“With every passing day, the world advances faster than ever before. One of the key reasons for this is mastery type skills. With the precise allocation of such critical assets, we were able to take leaps and bounds. Nonetheless, you are correct, this technology is far from finished. We’re aiming to turn the tablet into a personal device for every one of our employees.”

“Why?” Keynes couldn’t comprehend the end goal of such an investment. “We could train hundreds of elites for the same cost.”

Wagner sighed and a shadow of irritation flitted over his face.

“Once we discover how to connect our technology to the System, many of our limitations would vanish. Instant communication, instant and unobstructed access to critical information without regard for distance and location. The Web is built purely on electrical infrastructure that is highly incompatible with mana. Because you can’t use mana, you can’t run runes and runes are critical in combining complex arrays of formations.

“It is very likely that the Web will be replaced in a year or two with a new, purely mana-based, iteration.” Wagner leaned forward as if he wanted to reach through the screen. “Keynes, we aren’t the only ones researching this technology. Some of our experts are inclined to believe that singularly-focused research teams and companies will begin to outpace generalists like us.”

Esopp snorted, then a little cynical expression bled onto his face.

“Kid’s just afraid of being controlled. After all, Freeman had a similar idea but far less advanced.”

He wasn’t wrong there. Even without Alice’s help, Keynes could see that accessing the information from a tablet via the System involved personal connection from an ascender to the System. While Keynes—maybe a little naively—didn’t question Wagner’s motives and intentions, he couldn’t help but feel worried about giving such a tool to someone who might exploit it.

Wagner saw the cues on Keynes’s face. They all did. Their already high Perception was further heightened by items and so it was trivial for them to get a read on others.

“As far as we understand the System, control envisioned by Windsor Freeman isn’t possible with our setup.”

“How do you know?”

“I am not an engineer but the way it was explained to me suggests that the whole architecture of this project clearly shows incapability of our design to obtain information from the System without an user’s permission.”

Hmm. Unless someone hacked the—

The System is unhackable! Alice snapped in Keynes’s head.

Fine, fine, Keynes said conciliatorily.

While Keynes mulled over the news, Wagner continued. “We’ve considered investing into a spiritual training regime you had mentioned but we encountered obstacles that made this road unfeasible, at least in the current stage.”

Keynes’s brows rose. He was surprised that their company had faced obstacles they couldn’t overcome. Considering their resources … no, it sounded wrong.

“What kind of obstacles have stopped you?”

Wagner nodded toward Columbus. Without as much as a twitch, Columbus turned to Keynes but also gave Esopp a considering look.

“Spirit has been an object of researchers long before the first outbreak. True, it was never prioritised by the Institute or the army but some progress was made. Nonetheless, there was very little application for the findings and so these things had remained under the radar of the higher ups.”

“Things have changed after the outbreaks,” Keynes added.

“Yes,” Columbus admitted. “But with the emergence of new possibilities, aforementioned obstacles arose. Unlike Levels, spiritual stages aren’t automatically gained. You must have some … talent.” Columbus fell quiet noticing, Esopp’s sour expression.

“Talent?”

“Call predisposition if you must,” Wagner interjected. “But the argument remains. Most people don’t have it in them no matter how hard they try.”

Keynes found it strange. He didn’t have much trouble climbing to the Superior stage…

With your two buffs, you should not be surprised, Alice said. Rapid Learning and Photographic Memory trivialise it for you. Though going higher will not be that easy even for you.

“Maybe you’re approaching it from the wrong angle,” Esopp said. “Why would the System create something so potent only to deny it to the majority of people?”

Alice answered in Keynes’s head.

“Because the System seeks to challenge us.”

The other three men glanced at him questioningly.

“My spiritual companion’s words,” Keynes answered then added. “How’s your climb to the Medium stage coming, Esopp?”

Esopp grimaced. He was clearly unsettled by the events from the sub-boss’ fight.

“After my ascension to Level 8.”

“That’s a mistake,” Wagner said. “Our information on Spirit we currently have, shows clearly that it is easier to gain stages in lower Levels.”

This surprised Keynes. Not the information itself, but the fact that Wagner possessed it. The last time they had talked, Wagner had appeared to know next to nothing about Spirit. What was the extent of his knowledge now?

“I’m not in position to wait with you two slacking off,” he huffed, irritated. “Anyway, how did we end up talking about me, huh? Better explain to him why we won’t be touching spirit training.”

Neither Wagner nor Columbus seemed to care much in the face of Esopp’s accusation. Though Keynes’s Perception wasn’t as high as theirs, he could pick us emotions through their auras. Only Esopp had left the Weakest stage and was on the second stage. But his spiritual aura control was sloppy and poor.

“I haven’t said we won’t be touching spiritual training but we cannot afford to commit the way you expect. Our company will soon employ nearly two hundred thousand people at varying Levels. Many of them have valuable Talents and we want them raised to Level 5 for their minor Talent upgrade. That alone cost us a fortune. But this is a stable and a simple process. With Spirit nothing is simple or stable. Some employees would get there, others would not. This isn’t something we can afford now.”

“So what’s your plan?” Keynes asked.

“A screening process for spiritually talented and highly motivated individuals who require spiritual power for their job, like your crafter, Haef Hasting.”

“I want to be involved in it,” Keynes said without missing a heartbeat.

“Sure. But mind you, we’re starting with a small unit. Ten people maximum.”

“There’s more,” Keynes said, noticing a weak smile reaching Esopp’s eyes, while Wagner looked to be in pain. “I want to be in charge of the Department of Knowledge.”

His words met a wall of silence. At first, he thought that he’d overstepped, which wasn’t possible. They were equals here. Then Columbus broke the silence. “Do we have such a department?”

Esopp typed something on the tablet then shook his head.

“We don’t have one,” Wagner said, falling back against the backrest of his chair. “Each department handles their information themselves, sharing their findings and news during meetings.”

It sounded flawed and Keynes knew why.

“Vault by Render Graft,” Keynes muttered. It was a book he’d read some time before his ascension to Level 1. It criticised academia for the isolationist approach to storing and sharing knowledge. Issues highlighted in the book spoke about the inefficiencies of the information processing and application. The only reason the book hadn’t been banned was the high and abnormal praise for the World Government-backed Institute.

Keynes couldn’t help but see the same issues made here. Compartmentalization of knowledge had no place in the world of tight interconnectedness. He had a strong feeling that Wagner’s knowledge about the Perfect State would be as impressive as it was about Spirit but Keynes would have found not a single department trying to learn how these two aspects of progression interact with each other.

“What’s that?”

“A book about the disposition of knowledge,” Keynes replied then launched an in-depth explanation. He hadn’t expected Esopp to be so interested in it. After a brief presentation of the major topics Keynes waited for Wagner to argue against it. In the end, such a department was bound to generate costs.

“The idea’s sound but it’ll require modification of our projected budget.”

“Just do it already, Wagner,” Esopp said.

Unexpectedly, the argument came from Columbus.

“The book you mentioned failed to explain to you why compartmentalization of knowledge is often necessary.”

“And why is that?” Esopp asked.

“Of all people, you should know best,” Columbus replied, his voice growing dangerously sharp.

Esopp returned the hard stare.

“Freeman was paranoid. He wanted all the knowledge for himself and even his closest allies didn’t have the access to the bigger picture. I fail to see how this is relevant to our case.”

“Knowledge corrupts,” Columbus stated simply. “And even if none of us can be corrupted by it, what about the other people who would come in contact with it?”

“In order to progress, you must take risks. Kid’s right. Our current model is detrimental. Even Wagner’s old garden company kept all the eggs in one basket. Why should Untainted Paradise be any different?”

The undercurrents were clear when it came to Wagner’s and Esopp’s clashing philosophies. Like Keynes, Esopp wanted them to get stronger, while Wagner was too busy to bother himself with gaining Levels or spiritual stage. The situation of Columbus and Esopp was much more nuanced. Clearly, they both had shared history but their sudden hostility seemed to come out of nowhere. He didn’t like it.

“I am not against it,” Columbus drawled. “But there are precautions that must be taken before we move on with this idea.” He turned to Keynes. “Your department won’t be some quasi-important academia but a beating heart of this company with all the secrets passing through. And some of them … are world-shattering.”

Suddenly, Esopp looked ill and even Wagner glanced away.

“I guess it is time to move onto the next topic of our meeting,” Columbus said. “It’ll better highlight the danger of mishandling knowledge.”