Mirror Sky. Part 1 - Blissful Nemesis

30 - Hide and Seek

Alexander studied every day, deep into the night, and on breaks - every minute he was alone. Studying was not hard for him. He defeated the most popular paths with no problems, only occasionally seeking alternative explanations. When he was stuck, he would bring up his carefully worded questions to Valentina.

Using Ed's advice, Alexander kept all his studies in plain view of Valentina for as long as possible.

Alexander's rapid progress in language drew no suspicion – he had been passionate about it since he started hearing.

However, Valentina looked at him funny once he touched the Criminal Code of Libra. He came up with an excuse: he wanted to learn the law and strictly adhere to it to show everyone that spawns can be good citizens.

Valentina bought it. She helped him go through the Code and connected him with all the right experts when he felt stuck. He studied various parts of the Code, not just on burglary, so Valentina would not see any patterns.

Four months later, Alexander gained access to the lockpicking branch of knowledge. Valentina could not know he was taking this path – she would change the locks the next day.

Luckily, while studying the Criminal Code of Libra, Alexander discovered a loophole. By law, he could hide the progress in some branches of knowledge from his caretakers. In the past, parents often forced their kids to choose one profession over another. They blocked kids from reading certain books, destroyed the tool, and threw away the materials. It ended up suppressing the children's natural curiosity and making them apathetic adults. While such behavior was illegal for a thousand years, the excesses still existed. As such, the kids were given the power to hide the studies their parents would disapprove of.

The law fit Alexander's unique situation like a glove. He hid his lockpicking studies from Valentina. He would only get busted if she had tried to teach him lockpicking because she would be unable to record his progress. Of course, she would never teach him lockpicking. Alexander was in the clear and ready to read the Locks of the Kingdom of Gods.

There was only one problem. Ed advised him not to ask experts for help while reading the book and applying the knowledge from it. The book was too specific. It could reveal Alexander's location and put him and his caretakers in danger. Therefore, this part of the path was for him only. He braced for the final stretch.

The book soon demanded a lockpicking set.

It could be printed on any hobby printer, which Alexander did not have and had never seen. He looked up what else a hobby printer could do: necklaces, sculptures, decorative vases, mockups... He then came across a statement: creative exercises are essential for the mental development of children. It gave him an idea.

Alexander only had to mention the hobby printer to Valentina. She looked horrified and apologized for missing such an important area of his development. She said it was unusual for her alone to be responsible for his education. A hobby printer was delivered the next day so he could try his strength in arts and crafts. Under her overbearing supervision, he patiently developed a few sculptures and paintings. It was fun, even though he was not great at it. It made him appreciate Elena's talent even more. He also tried sketching a self-portrait, and the result looked like somebody had smashed his face against the wall.

Still, he received nothing but praise from Valentina. Conveniently, she never cared about what materials he was printing and was interested only in the results. To maintain his cover, he had to keep his artsy hobby going, soothing Valentina's vigilance until he felt comfortable enough to print and hide away a lockpicking set. He was close to the final part of his mission - defeating the lock.

The Locks of the Kingdom of Men was a challenging book to comprehend. Usually, generations of authors would polish any topic to comprehension perfection. However, lockpicking old locks was a topic so obscure that the book only had two revisions. The wording tied Alexander's brain into a knot, and the table of content was a mess.