"I'm a bit worried, as you may have guessed," Iberis said. "Researcher Buxus, you know as well as I do that usually all we do is worry, but we handle that worry in our own ways."
He was silent for a moment, which didn't bode well with Aronia.
"Have you examined it yourself?" She asked.
The High Archivist made a face.
"A little."
"A little?"
"A very little."
That answer somehow inspired less confidence than no answer at all.
Iberis folded his hands atop the desk.
"I wasn't planning to. The artifact arrived, the wardens filed their reports, the containment team installed the restraints, and I intended to wait for a proper research assignment."
"What changed?"
"Curiosity."
Aronia nodded.
"A powerful force," Iberis went on. "Responsible for almost all of the discoveries in the Archives, and most of the paperwork. I've heard no voices or seen any visions. No kind of magical... discharge. That artifact is simply there."
"And?"
"And after a few minutes I found myself thinking that I should take it. Take it away. I have no idea why. Most compulsive artifacts at least attempted to justify themselves. I remember standing there and thinking that I should remove it from containment and bring it back to my office."
He gestured vaguely around the room.
"Put it on a shelf, perhaps."
"You don't know why?"
"No."
"Did you want it?"
"A bit, I still do."
"The thought wasn't persuasive. It wasn't seductive. It didn't arrive attached to some grand promise. Not to me, at least."
His expression grew thoughtful.
"It was simply there."
Mental influence was hardly rare within the Archives. Entire wings existed because certain objects enjoyed tampering with minds.
But those influences generally possessed a shape.
An emotional push. Something that could be identified.
"I remember looking at it and saying aloud, 'No, I cannot have that.'"
"You said that?"
"Several times. Which was a strange thing to say because I had no legitimate reason to want it in the first place. The important part is that I knew the thought wasn't mine. Because, you know, I've spent decades being myself."
Aronia raised an eyebrow. "Unhelpfully philosophical."
"It's true nonetheless."
He tapped the side of his head.
"I know my ambitions. I know my flaws. I know the things I desire and the things I don't. And I know that I've never once looked at a dangerous, unknown artifact and thought, I should keep that for myself."
The High Archivist was no fool.
"If it can influence thoughts," Aronia said carefully, "why hasn't it been classified accordingly?"
The High Archivist gave a short laugh.
"Because one observation isn't evidence."
"And because you weren't certain."
"And because I wasn't certain."
"For all I know, I spent too many hours reading reports and imagined the whole thing."
"You don't believe that."
"Maybe I had a hunch."