Korven finds herself floating through the very room that plunged her into a string of conspiracies and secrets that had dictated her life for the last few months. Not knowing what to look for, Korven tries to keep an eye on every corner of the room.
"Anything could be a hint." She says.
A plethora of possibilities on the importance of this room flows through Korven's mind. For Korven's logical mind, it makes no sense that Aldrick would choose such an illogical meeting ground.
Korven had assumed that the lead who had originally led her to investigate the dogfighting ring was part of a convoluted setup to recruit her to Aldrick's cause. Hence, the room must have something of importance; the chosen angels were able to fill it with lackeys and actors.
"Aldrick wouldn't move so many workers to an abandoned building they have no association with," she keeps thinking.
"Aldrick then would have had to buy the building, as he is already under the eye of the police. He might be rich, but he wouldn't buy a building simply to get me to join his mission. There must be more to it."
Korven floats through both floors, trying to find evidence that the building has any further use beyond being a trap.
"No one, not even Aldrick, can completely wipe a building of evidence that it has ever been used. It's simply impossible. Right?" Korven asks, unsure that anything is impossible to someone like Aldrick.
With only half a minute left, she finishes looking around the second floor, her search being unsuccessful, the rooms being bare and covered in mould. Korven feels her vision starting to blur until she can see nothing but darkness, her time having run out.
As her eyes get used to the brightness in the room, she contemplates whether entering her memory is even worth the effort.
"I should have left that lead in the past; Aldrick knows by miracle and prepared for this. He knows me more than I know myself."
She drops her head onto her desk, defeated again, hopeless.
"On no equal playing field am I able to outthink him in any aspect, yet no slanted playing field has made itself apparent to me; I just don't see it."
She contemplates looking back into her memory, yet there isn't even an idea in her mind on what she would look for. Her notebook fills with frustrated struggles as Korven attempts to connect pieces of evidence that are just as likely to have been planted by Aldrick as to be true.
"Sinxu's attack put the idea in my mind that I was on the right track; if he saw how lost I was regarding this case, he wouldn't have risked trying to stop me." Korven leans back in her chair, dropping her sweaty face into her hands on a fool's errand, hoping to calm herself down.
Korven places her left ring finger into her right hand, taking a deep breath as she pictures their first meeting. She begins to muster the courage to start her transformation as the memory of the previous day floods her mind.
"Wait." She pauses as her fingers begin to sweat.
"I have been thinking about this all wrong." Thinking out loud is a habit Korven had quickly gotten used to, although it was originally a quirk she picked up when escaping Tynro's notes; she had realized that if she shares her thoughts with the room, if something ever slips her mind, she could re-enter a memory and hear the thought out loud.
"In the world I have begun to develop to explain Aldrick's actions, I have always thought of Aldrick as both someone who assumes he is above me, hence sends an untrained assassin to kill me, but also a man who is willing to go to great lengths in a bid to turn me into a member." Korven stumbles for a second, trying to remember where she was going with this new theory.
"He decided to meet me in person while he was with his second in command, but also gave up on me as soon as he defeated Silia." Korven stands up from her chair and continues talking to an empty audience.
"He found a way to eliminate Tynro, meaning he does dispose of those he deems threats."
She finishes her lap around her apartment.
"I may not have the same skills as Tynro, but the very fact that he met with me would have me believe that he does view me as some sort of threat. Unless."
Korven rushes back to her desk and continues with her notes.
"Unless Aldrick was telling the truth to begin with."
Korven curses herself for having overlooked what now felt obvious.
"Aldrick does want me to join, whether my miracle is important or not; he wants to recruit as many miracle-born as possible. Silia wasn't trying to kill me. Anyone with a miracle as useful as hers could kill even a trained fighter like me." She keeps writing as pages flip by, connecting every living source to see how it fits her newfound theory.
"He knew so much about my miracle, so, knowing full well how useless it is, he still wanted me on board. Silia was just a test; I was being tested."
She stumbles through sentence after sentence.
"My value in Aldrick's eyes comes down to my miracle, not its power but the very fact that it exists. They want miracles no matter what the miracle is."
Korven connects her theory to another dot in her notebook.
"Exactly what Sinxu was saying, Quyin must also be getting pursued by the Angels."
She flips the page one more time.
"If Aldrick doesn't care about our miracles themselves and only the fact that we have them."
She realizes,
"And Quyin is in such danger that Sinxu resorted to threatening me with a weapon." She says, thinking about the pistol in the shoebox.
"I must be in the same danger Quyin is in. How have I not noticed this sooner?"