Piggybacking on the Network

That mechanical voice made Gawain freeze for a moment.

He was no stranger to that voice—the first time he had heard it was when he detached from the satellite, when that synthesized voice had issued a warning and announced the activation of the Escape System. Later, he would occasionally hear it whenever he connected to the satellite. He could now be certain that the voice belonged to the satellite in space—or perhaps to the entire cluster of space facilities.

He raised a hand and tentatively touched the Black Leather Book again. This time, there was no response at all.

Beltira could not hear the voice in Gawain's mind, but she noticed the sudden change in his expression and naturally grew curious. "What happened?"

"This thing..." Gawain concealed his embarrassment. "What is it used for?"

Beltira reached toward the Black Leather Book and let it fall into her hand, while casually turning her other hand above it. "It records countless forms of knowledge, and can display them according to set conditi—eh?"

The pages of the Black Leather Book turned by themselves under the influence of magic, yet no wondrous images appeared between the flipping pages. Every page bore a red X and a line of glaring red words: "Proxy access disconnected. Please check authorization validity."

Gawain saw the words appearing on the pages as well. At last, he was certain: this thing had probably, perhaps, maybe... been broken by him.

"How... how could this happen..." Beltira wore a rare expression of shock, even slight panic. "It has never happened in centuries... It never..."

"Mm... Don't worry about its condition yet," Gawain said stiffly. "First, tell me what this thing does exactly. Tell me where it came from too, and see if I have any clues."

Beltira paused, then remembered Gawain's identity