Leverage to Upend the Board, the Clockmaker's Calculations
As Lynn's voice faded, the ruins, forgotten by time, fell into an even more profound silence than before.
Destroy the Black Privilege Token.
These words were not a threat, nor a deal, but a gesture to overturn the chessboard.
For the first time, the Clockmaker's translucent projection, composed of countless time particles, began to flicker violently, visible to the naked eye. It was as if the signals that constituted his work had become unstable because of this crazy suggestion.
The gentleness and scholarly composure on his face vanished.
Instead, there is a calm tinged with absurdity, scrutiny, and extreme danger.
After a long while, he suddenly chuckled softly.
"A... very interesting suggestion."
The Clockmaker adjusted his monocle, a gesture that restored his composure.
"You're willing to voluntarily give up your greatest shield, your only proof that allows you to transcend the rules of TVA."
His gaze seemed to pierce through Lynn's flesh and blood, looking directly into his soul.
"Why?"
"A Variant has lost its privileges will lose its last remaining value to me, to TVA, and to the entire Sacred Timeline. At that point, your fate will only be worse than being 'pruned'."
He accurately characterized Lynn's suggestion as suicidal.
Lynn's expression remained unchanged.
You're wrong.
He answered calmly.
"This thing was never meant to be a talisman."
Lynn's fingers gently pressed the outline of the token in his pocket through the fabric.
"It's a mark. A brand. A living target that proclaims to the entire universe, 'I am here, I am special, I am a massive source of mutation.'"
"It doesn't represent freedom, but the highest level of surveillance and control. With it, I can never become a true 'ghost.' My every move will be observed under a microscope by you, and by beings even higher than you."
He met the Clockmaker's gaze, his tone calm, yet every word was like a knife.
"I'm tired of being a pawn, and I'm tired of being used by you so-called 'chess players' to test me, manipulate me, and use me as a tool to achieve some goal."
"Only by destroying it can I truly reclaim my own control. I have nothing to do with TVA anymore. Whether my backyard is in flames or peaceful is none of your business; it's my own affair."
This explanation sounds flawless.
It perfectly encapsulates the most rational and decisive choice a Variant struggling to survive in the cracks, desperately yearning to break free from control, could make.
The Clockmaker fell silent.
He seemed to be assessing the veracity of those words.
"Your 'backyard' is probably not up to you."
He suddenly waved his hand.
The Holographic Image beside me changed again.
The view of the Management Committee is no longer a panoramic view, but a heavily guarded laboratory that is physically sealed off.
Wanda stood alone in front of a massive, now-defunct Chaos Magic Reactor.
Her eyes were vacant, and there was no energy fluctuation around her, but on the observation window made of Special Alloy in front of her, fine cracks like a spider web were silently spreading.
The scene was silent, yet it was more oppressive than any scream.
"During your absence, she has attempted to break through the seal on Zero Storage Room three times. Each time, she has come one step closer to complete loss of control."
The Clockmaker's voice was like the devil's whisper.
"Without you, they're just a disorganized mess. And without this token, you don't even have the right to go back and appease them."
Lynn looked at Wanda on the screen, a barely perceptible ripple flashing deep in his eyes.
But the expression on his face remained calm.
"So, this deal is more in your favor. You take away a huge hidden danger that could trigger an internal investigation at TVA at any time, I take back what I deserve, and then I can deal with my family matters."
He abruptly changed the subject, a very faint smile curving his lips.
"As for your partner's name... do you really think I don't know who he is?"
The Clockmaker's projection froze once more.
"The reason I asked you to speak is simply because I need 'evidence,' proof that your side has demonstrated its sincerity in the transaction."
Lynn took a step forward.
"Now, the choice is yours. Do you choose to believe me, this 'self-destructive' Variant, and completely resolve this problem with the Privilege Token; or do you choose to refuse and wait for me to return to the Management Committee and issue the first and last United Nations Investigation Order authorized by the Black Privilege Token, targeting TVA's senior management and the mole within the Management Committee..."
"Mr. Clockmaker, you are a clever man."
You should be able to figure this out.
The air seemed to have been sucked out.
This is a completely open and aboveboard conspiracy.
Lynn packaged himself and the token into a huge, unstable explosive charge, and then personally handed the detonator to the Clockmaker.
Either you tear it down now and that's the end of it.
Or, just wait for it to blow up your heart and soul.
The Clockmaker stared at Lynn for a very long time.
Behind the monocle, the eye gleamed with a complex light, like that of high-speed computation.
He was weighing his options.
Weigh the potential threat posed by a legendary token against the future value that a highly intelligent Variant might bring.
In the end, all his emotions transformed back into that scholarly, slightly approving smile.
"You've won this round, Director Lynn."
He readily admitted it.
"Your audacity has exceeded my expectations. Cooperating with someone like you is far more interesting than controlling a puppet."
He raised his hand.
"As you wish."
A pure, golden Data Stream, composed of a massive amount of Runes, shot from his fingertips, tracing an elegant arc in mid-air before precisely entering the Personal Terminal on Lynn's wrist.
[Received a Highest Encryption file from an 'unknown source'...]
[Document Title: The Forty-Second Execution - Full Video Recording]
[Decryption in progress...10%...50%...100%... Decryption complete.]
Lynn did not check immediately.
His gaze remained fixed on the Clockmaker.
"Anything else?"
"Name." The Clockmaker smiled, a smile tinged with the pleasure of a chess player toying with his opponent.
"I've always believed that giving a direct answer is a very... unelegant act."
His projection pointed to Lynn's jacket pocket.
There, lying quietly, was the forged confession, folded into a square.
The answer you seek has been in your own hands from the very beginning.
"Go back, Director Lynn. Take a close look at that document."
"After all, every great artist is accustomed to leaving a unique signature on their work."
Before the words were finished, the Clockmaker's projection began to thin, like smoke being blown away by the wind.
Looking forward to our next meeting.
His voice left its last echo in the ruins.
At the same time, the hundreds of TVA soldiers, frozen like statues, seemed to have received orders simultaneously.
They neatly sheathed their weapons, turned around, and silently walked back to the still-flickering portals.
Without any hesitation or delay.
Within seconds, the entire ruins returned to deathly silence.
Lynn was left alone, standing in front of the empty interrogation table.
The surrounding Spatial Rift, seemingly freed from the constraints of some force, began to slowly and steadily collapse and Oblivion once more.
Lynn, however, was completely unaware.
He slowly took the neatly folded document out of his pocket.
Expand it.
His gaze was fixed intently on the handwriting, each stroke of which was imitated flawlessly.
An artist's... unique signature?
He had examined the handwriting and confirmed the forger's skillful imitation.
What else did he overlook?
Suddenly, his pupils contracted sharply.
His fingers traced the edge of the official document.
It's not a character.
It's not handwriting.
It's paper!
The paper has a delicate texture and a slightly cool metallic feel; it is the special paper used for the highest-level official documents of the Management Committee.
In the extremely inconspicuous spot at the bottom right corner of the paper, he touched a tiny production batch number etched on using nanotechnology, almost integrated into the paper.
[K-7-Chaos-M]
K stands for the Department of Technology (Kejibu).
7 represents the Seventh Laboratory.
Chaos-M represents the Chaos Magic material.
This is Specialty Paper Wanda specially developed to prevent confidential documents from being spied on by magic. It is imbued with a trace of her Chaos Magic as an anti-counterfeiting mark.
This batch of paper was intended for use in only one location.
--Office of the Minister of the Department of Technology.