“And it thinks the way you do,” I say out loud.
“Yes,” Kaelren does not look away from that. “That means conventional strategy fails,” he says. “It anticipates every move.”
The council absorbs the implications. I look at each of the members, and my eyes land on Thalia, who is looking down at the diagrams. Fifty-three attempts.
Her eyes suddenly snap up to mine, like she could sense my stare. “Then we do not use a conventional strategy,” she says. “We do something it cannot predict.”
“And what would that be?” Rhyven asks.
Thalia exhales slowly, “I do not know yet.” She straightens, “But we have five days to find it.”
Her voice shifts to command. “Torvel. Review every failed attempt again. Focus on the deepest penetration points before collapse.”
“Rhyven. Accelerate evacuation drills.”
“Irielle. Hourly boundary readings.”
They move immediately.
Thalia turns back to us, “Rest. Tomorrow we will discuss additional information that was not shared today.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Because not all things need a public audience,” she says plainly.
She pauses, “I'll find you tomorrow.” She gathers her things and heads to the door. The others file out, and she turns, giving us one last lingering look before closing the door.
Peeble hops across Torvel’s diagrams. “So,” they say. “To summarize. The monster is a version of Kaelren. The timeline is shorter. No one has reached the core. And the enemy predicts strategy because it literally is strategy.”
They pause, “Are we missing anything important? Oh, yeah. We are doomed.”
Kaelren stands and lifts Peeble, placing them back on my shoulder.
Then he studies one diagram. “We are not doomed,” he says. “We just cannot fight it the way it expects.”
“And how does it expect to be fought?”
“With strategy. With logic.” His silver eyes meet mine. “Every version of me treats it like a problem to solve.”
“So we break the pattern," I say, meeting his stare.
“Yes.”
We both look at the table.
Fifty-three attempts.
Fifty-three failures.
Every rational plan imaginable.
“Good thing I have never been particularly rational,” I say aloud.
Kaelren almost smiles. He reaches for my hand and pulls me to his side. He plants a reassuring kiss to my forehead, and we leave the chamber together.
Outside, the Verdance moves quietly beneath the towering Heartwood.
Five days to find an answer that fifty-three cycles never discovered.
