Chapter 354: Terms of Admission

The terms arrived through the contact Ren had given the Guild.

He opened the document at the Terrace table. Beneath the Guild’s heading were the Old Ladder’s name and the reference for his supervised inspection. He checked it against the slip he had kept, then began reading.

Admission to the upper trial. Issued to the claimant whose eligible reaction is recorded under the reference above.

One recognized claimant. No companions or deployment of bonded Subjects within the trial.

The claimant’s own abilities, worn equipment, and carried supplies are permitted. No supplies may be replenished from outside during the attempt.

Once begun, the attempt continues until completion, failure, or surrender. The claimant may not leave between stages or suspend the attempt to resume it later.

Failure or surrender ends the attempt and activates the return procedure to the landing. Surrender is recorded as failure. Injuries sustained are not healed by the return procedure.

No communication crosses the trial boundary in either direction.

The trial consists of a finite sequence of stages, each with its own termination conditions. No duration is promised.

What is earned is given at completion.

No deadline is imposed for beginning. The recorded reaction remains on file. Recognition is checked when the claimant presents himself to begin.

The administrative note beneath the terms named the Guild as responsible for delivery, supervised access, and the entry and return records. Admission remained subject to the mark’s recognition.

Ren went back to the lines about surrender. The trial would return him, but it would not undo an injury. He would need to carry what he might require and settle everything outside before beginning.

He sent a message to Iris and Lyra.

The terms have arrived. I’m going to compare the carving with my drawing at the inspection landing. I’ll bring the document when I get back.

Iris answered while he was putting his papers together.

Bring all of it. We’ll read it with you.

— • —

The transfer ring brought him to the foot of Dawnspire’s central spire.

He stopped at the counter beneath the Old Ladder’s public board. The same attendant checked his plate and brought up the inspection reference on her slate.

"You received the terms?"

"Yes. I’m not beginning today. I’d like another supervised visit to the inspection landing. I have a drawing to compare with the carving."

She looked at the folded notes in his hand.

"You can look from beside the square. Leave the mark alone unless I direct you otherwise."

"Understood."

She returned his plate and came around the counter to lead him up.

They passed the public platforms, following the stair where it crossed open air and then turned back against the rock. Ren kept his notes folded until they reached the narrow shelf below the sealed section.

The square lay before the carving, with the rail along the landing’s open edge. Higher up, the sealed ring remained dark. From here, he could still see no doorway beyond it.

Ren stood beside the square and opened his drawing.

He had made it at the cistern, checking each crossing against the grooves above the sluice frame. A small mark on the page identified the curve that had answered his hand. Now he could compare the two patterns without relying on his memory of the first inspection.

He began at the top. The same lines crossed there, passing above and beneath one another in the same order. He followed them outward, checking each curve before moving to the next.

The arrangement matched his drawing.

He found the curve he had marked at the cistern. It occupied the same position as the one that had lit during his inspection here. The carving on the spire remained dark while he looked; he kept his hand away from it.

Ren lowered the drawing and made a second sketch beside it. He could record the deeper grooves more clearly now, including where one disappeared beneath another. He labeled the two drawings by location and noted the matching crossings and curves.

He had confirmed the resemblance. Whoever had cut the marks, the entrances still imposed different conditions. At the cistern he had been allowed to return to the door and leave. The Ladder’s terms offered no way to step out between stages and continue later.

The attendant waited beside the rail while he finished.

"That’s what I needed," he said, folding the notes.

They started down together.

— • —

"When I do come to begin," Ren asked, "what happens at the counter?"

"Bring your plate and the admission reference. We arrange the supervised entry and check the mark’s response again. You’ll be shown where to accept the trial and cross into it."

"The inspection square isn’t the entrance?"

"No. Having the mark checked doesn’t begin your attempt. Acceptance and entry are separate from the inspection."

He glanced back toward the stair above them before continuing down.

"And the Guild records when I go in?"

"Entry and return. We hold your plate during the attempt, along with anything you leave at the counter."

"Can someone ask here whether I’ve returned?"

"Give us their names when you arrange entry. We’ll tell you which contact handles those inquiries."

"What if I surrender?"

"The trial activates its return procedure. We record the failed attempt when you come back to the landing."

"Can you reach me before then?"

"No. We have no way to send a message through the boundary or bring someone in to help you. The terms aren’t ours to change."

At the counter, she completed the record of his supervised visit and showed him the entry. It described the comparison and his return from the landing. No trial had begun.

Ren put his plate away. He had the terms and knew how to arrange entry. He still needed to decide when he could afford to be unreachable.

— • —

Iris and Lyra met him on the Terrace steps that evening. He laid the document between them, keeping a hand on one corner while they read.

Lyra moved closer to see the lower lines. Iris reached the end, then went back to the return condition.

"This includes your harness?" she asked.

"Worn equipment is allowed. The clothing-only rule belongs to the public floors."

"And your Subjects?"

"They stay in Verdance. I can’t deploy them inside the trial."

Lyra looked up.

"How long would we not hear from you?"

"I don’t know."

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing through the boundary, either way. Each stage has an end condition, but the terms don’t tell me how long reaching it will take."

Iris kept her finger beside the return clause.

"And if you can’t finish?"

"I can surrender. That ends the attempt and starts the return procedure. Or a stage can end in failure. Either way, I can’t go back in and carry on from where I stopped."

"Hurt or not?"

"Yes. It doesn’t heal me when it returns me."

She read the reward line again.

"It doesn’t say what you’d receive."

"No. Only that it’s given at completion. I can’t count on a reward for part of the trial."

Lyra drew her knees aside as someone passed them on the steps. Ren held the document until the footsteps had gone.

"Did the carving match?" she asked.

He opened his notes and showed them the two drawings.

"The crossing lines and the curves. This is where each one responded."

Iris compared the marked places. "Does that change anything about entering?"

"No. I still have to follow these terms." He put the admission sheet beside the drawings. "The cistern let me end the attempt by reaching the door myself. Here, surrender starts its return procedure. I’m keeping those separate."

— • —

"I’m not going in yet," Ren said.

Lyra looked at him instead of the papers.

"What do you need to arrange?"

"Who can make decisions in Verdance while I’m unreachable, and who handles anything sent to my contact. Dole needs to know before I stop answering. Her office is checking the receiving record now. She might need me to identify something."

"Anything about Mei could arrive while you’re inside," Iris said.

"Yes. It needs to reach someone who can answer, even if I can’t."

Iris took out her slate.

Ren watched her enter the first two items before adding, "I want more practice with the harness, too. It passed the load they tested in it. If we try anything heavier, the craftsperson wants it tested off me first."

"And the Time work?"

"The keeper said I could come back and show what I’d practiced. I’ll arrange that before setting a date for the Ladder."

He looked toward the tables beyond the steps.

"I’d like to be here when Kaelen returns."

"We don’t know when that will be," Lyra said.

"I know. I can’t plan everything around it. I’d still rather see him before I leave again."

Iris finished the entry and turned her slate toward him.

"When you arrange it, we both need the details. Where you’re entering and which Guild contact we can ask about your return."

"The attendant said I can leave your names."

"Then do that," Lyra said. "And tell us before you begin."

"I will."

"Even if you decide you’re ready sooner than you expected."

Ren nodded. "You’ll hear it from me before I go in."

She rested her hand beside his while Iris saved the notes. Ren folded the admission sheet and put it with the drawings. He had no date to give them yet, but they would have the arrangements before he crossed the entrance.

— • —

His slate sounded while they were still on the steps.

Sol’s name headed the message.

The two mats have taken on the lower shore. New growth on both, and the runners are holding across the full width. Ilse checked them this morning. I said I’d write either way. This is the good news.

I’ve also heard of a repair job on a thermal world, at a shaded garden. They’re looking for a team. I haven’t seen the details yet. If you’re interested, I’ll ask for them.

Ren read it aloud.

"Both beds," Lyra said. "I’m glad they took."

Iris leaned back against the step above them. "What sort of repair?"

"He hasn’t said."

Ren opened a reply. Before agreeing to anything, he would need to see the work and its requirements. Sol could get those.

I’m interested. Find out more.