Chapter 297: The Law Between the Lines
The silence after Alexis’s question stretched—not awkward, not heavy. Just... deep.
Like standing on the edge of something massive.
"What do you think are the origins of the System?" she had asked.
And I didn’t know how to answer.
So I didn’t.
She didn’t seem to mind. Alexis leaned back in her chair, fingers steepled beneath her chin, glasses still fogged, though she didn’t seem to notice anymore. The light from her monitors framed her like a surgeon prepping for an operation—cold, precise, focused.
"There are historians," she said quietly, "who have dedicated their entire lives trying to answer that question. To understand where the System came from, how it began. The earliest written records we have link it to Mesopotamia. Back then, jobs weren’t digital or assigned through evaluation centers—they were roles. Hunter. Farmer. Priest. Midwife. That sort of thing."
I nodded. That much I knew. Everyone who went through school learned the basics. But the way Alexis spoke—it wasn’t recitation. It was personal.
She tapped a hologram beside her, bringing up a timeline etched with red flags. "Around that time, something started being recorded in drawings and symbols. Personal strength being tied to roles. Sudden bursts of ability. There are scrolls that describe individuals being able to dig better, run without getting tired, think clearer—depending on what ’role’ they embodied."
"Sounds like the earliest traces of System integration," I said.
"Exactly," she replied. "Which is why I doubt this thing is digital or artificial in origin. Mesopotamians didn’t have code, Rey. They had reeds and clay."