Stepping back through the mirror into normal corridors, Cael felt profoundly changed. His sense of what "himself" meant had become more flexible, more consciously constructed. The memories of his fictional sister Kira faded as he chose to release them, but they left behind a lingering sense of possibility.
Walking toward his dormitory, he noticed his reflection in the Academy's windows showed subtle variations. Sometimes more confident, sometimes more thoughtful, sometimes carrying himself with the posture of someone who had grown up with siblings. The changes were small but suggested his experimentation had already begun affecting his unconscious self-presentation.
His final class of the day awaited: Reality Negotiation, taught by an instructor whose name appeared different on every piece of Academy documentation that referenced the course.
He found the classroom in a sub-basement that shouldn't have existed according to the Academy's architectural plans, accessible through a maintenance tunnel that insisted it led to the heating system. The room beyond was stark and utilitarian, furnished with simple chairs arranged in a circle around what appeared to be empty air.
Professor Vex sat in one of the chairs, though "sat" was an approximate description. She existed as a collection of negotiated possibilities, her form shifting between states of matter and energy in response to the collective expectations of her students. Today, she appeared mostly solid, though her edges occasionally dispersed into probability clouds before reasserting themselves.
"Reality," she announced without preamble as the last student took their seat, "is a democracy. Every conscious being gets a vote on what's true, what's possible, and what's permitted to exist. The problem is that most people cast their votes unconsciously, allowing consensus to form around inherited assumptions and cultural artifacts."
She gestured at the empty space in the center of their circle. "Today we're going to practice conscious voting. Each of you will take turns arguing for the existence of something that isn't currently present in this room. If your argument is sufficiently compelling, reality will adjust to accommodate your proposal."
A student Cael didn't recognize raised her hand. "What happens if we argue for something dangerous?"
"Then you learn why Reality Negotiation requires careful consideration of consequences," Professor Vex replied. "The universe tends to interpret requests literally and implement them with ruthless efficiency. If you successfully argue for the existence of fire, you get actual fire with all its properties, including the tendency to burn things."
She pointed to Marcus, the shadow-boy from Applied Ontology. "You first. Argue for something simple."
Marcus considered for a moment, his form solidifying as he focused. "There should be a plant in the center of our circle," he said carefully. "Something green and living that demonstrates nature's ability to thrive in artificial environments. A small flowering plant that requires minimal care and produces a subtle, pleasant fragrance."
As he spoke, reality began to respond. A faint outline appeared in the empty space, gradually filling in with color and detail until a small potted plant with delicate white flowers materialized. The scent of jasmine filled the air.
"Well argued," Professor Vex approved. "You provided specific details while avoiding potentially problematic characteristics. Who's next?"
The exercise continued around the circle. Vera successfully argued for a window that showed a view of mountains that didn't exist anywhere near the Academy. David created a book that contained the complete history of a fictional country, while another student manifested a musical instrument that played itself in harmony with the plant's natural rhythms.
When the turn came to Cael, he found himself facing a unique challenge. His Spiral of Lies resonance meant his relationship with truth was fundamentally different from his classmates'. How did one argue for reality when one's nature was to distort it?
"There should be a mirror here," he said slowly, watching Professor Vex's reaction. "Not an ordinary mirror, but one that shows truth rather than appearance. A surface that reflects what is actually present rather than what appears to be present."
The words felt strange in his mouth, carrying contradictions he couldn't fully articulate. As he spoke, something began forming in the empty space, but it was unlike the clear manifestations his classmates had achieved. Instead, a shimmering distortion appeared, neither fully present nor entirely absent.
"Interesting," Professor Vex murmured. "Your Spiral affinity is creating complications. The mirror exists, but it's existing in a state of ontological uncertainty. It's simultaneously true and false, present and absent."
Cael stared at the flickering distortion he had created. Occasionally, he caught glimpses of reflective surface that showed the room as it truly was, including the layers of possibility and fiction that surrounded every apparently solid object. But the glimpses were brief and unreliable.
"I can't make it stable," he admitted.
"That may be the point," Professor Vex said. "Your contribution to consensus reality isn't to add fixed truths, but to maintain the flexibility that prevents reality from becoming too rigid. The mirror you've created represents possibility itself, the space where truth and falsehood negotiate their boundaries."
She addressed the entire class. "This exercise demonstrates why Reality Negotiation requires both individual skill and collaborative awareness. Each of you has added something to our shared space, but notice how your additions interact with and influence each other."
Indeed, the plant Marcus had created was now growing in impossible directions, its vines reaching toward Vera's mountain window to catch light that came from a fictional sun. David's historical book was writing new chapters that incorporated the music from the self-playing instrument, while Cael's unstable mirror occasionally reflected scenes from the book's invented country.
"Reality," Professor Vex concluded, "is not a competition between different versions of truth. It's a collaborative creative project where every participant's contribution shapes the final result. Your homework is to spend the next week consciously observing how your expectations and beliefs influence the small realities around you. Notice when coincidences align with your hopes or fears. Pay attention to how your presence changes the behavior of both people and objects."
As the class ended and students began to leave, Professor Vex called Cael aside.
"Your mirror is still here," she observed, indicating the shimmering distortion that continued to flicker in and out of existence. "Most student creations fade when class ends, but yours is maintaining itself through sheer contradiction."
"Is that a problem?"
"It's unprecedented," she said. "I've been teaching Reality Negotiation for longer than the Academy has existed, and I've never seen a manifestation that sustains itself through instability. Usually, things exist or they don't. Your mirror exists by refusing to commit to either state."
She studied the distortion with professional interest. "I suspect it will become more stable as your Spiral development progresses. The question is whether it will stabilize into existence or non-existence, or whether it will pioneer some third option that transcends the binary entirely."
Walking back through corridors that seemed more negotiable than they had that morning, Cael reflected on his first day in the Sublevel Curriculum. Each class had challenged a different fundamental assumption about the nature of reality, identity, and truth. By the end of the day, he felt as if his worldview had been systematically dismantled and rebuilt from more flexible materials.
The book Professor Kaine had given him grew warm in his hands, and when he opened it, new text had appeared:
Day One: Subject begins integration of advanced ontological concepts. Identity shows expected fluidity. Reality negotiation demonstrates unprecedented contradiction-based manifestation. Recommend continued observation and graduated exposure to higher-order distortions.
Note: Subject's mirror manifestation persists beyond class termination. Classification: Paradox Artifact. Status: Monitored.
By the time Cael reached his dormitory room, he had begun to understand that his education was as much about learning to function with an altered relationship to existence itself as it was about gaining specific abilities. He was being trained not just to use his Spiral powers, but to think in ways that would allow him to navigate a reality where truth was negotiable and identity was constructed.
It was, he realized, the most dangerous and most necessary education he could possibly receive.