Teleportation did not arrive with fire or thunder.
It came quietly like stepping across a threshold no one else could see.
Zack materialized at the edge of the Flamel estate.
Moonlight reflected off alchemically engineered roses, their petals glowing softly like embers trapped in frost. The air smelled of lavender, iron, and old runes.
He did not move immediately.
Magical wards scanned him layer by layer:
identity
intent
magical resonance
internal emotional state
Only when the analysis completed did Zack step forward.
Before his second step touched the path, a voice spoke:
> "If you had come without invitation, you wouldn't exist now."
Nicholas Flamel appeared from between the vines calm, steady, wearing simple travel robes.
Beside him stood Perenelle, alert but not hostile, posture refined from centuries of experience rather than vanity.
Zack inclined his head slightly.
> "Then I'm satisfied the invitation remains valid."
Nicholas regarded him with the kind of gaze only very old scholars possessed patient, curious, and cautious.
"You came in person."
> "Delegation has limits."
Perenelle's eyes narrowed.
"And what requires your… personal attention?"
Zack did not answer directly. Instead, a holographic projection formed between them.
A timeline.
Two primary branches stretched across it:
MAGIC ALONE → stagnation
TECHNOLOGY ALONE → collapse
Then a third branch glowed brighter:
INTEGRATION → sustained evolution
Nicholas stepped closer, studying the projection.
"…You're modeling civilization trajectory?"
> "Correct."
Perenelle folded her arms.
"And you believe we are necessary to stabilize this outcome?"
Zack dimmed the projection.
> "No."
Both raised an eyebrow.
Then Zack continued:
> "You are necessary to accelerate it."
THE ARGUMENT
Nicholas moved to a stone table beneath the fig tree the same meeting place as before.
He gestured for Zack to sit.
"Explain."
Zack sat.
"I have analyzed knowledge from the Oracle, Amaira, Jian Shen, and Elias Murrow. Each holds unique understanding fragmented by culture, secrecy, fear, or pride."
He paused.
"But you two hold something else."
Perenelle's tone sharpened.
"And what is that?"
> "Patience."
They exchanged a glance.
Not magical.
Just… shared understanding.
"You've lived long enough to see patterns," Zack continued. "Innovation slowing. Magic repeating. Knowledge guarded rather than evolved."
Nicholas sighed not dramatically, just truthfully.
"That is accurate."
Zack projected a second model simple, elegant.
A philosophical equation:
> Extended Life + Stagnant Knowledge = Slow Death
Then another:
> Extended Life + Evolving Knowledge = Civilizational Shift
Perenelle leaned forward.
"You want the Stone."
Zack did not hesitate.
> "I require it to study its soul interaction properties not for immortality, but for continuity."
Nicholas's tone hardened.
"You intend to clone wizards."
> "Eventually."
Perenelle asked the true question:
"And you want to know whether a soul can be transferred preserved or replicated."
Zack nodded once.
"Yes."
Silence settled not threatening.
Just… heavy with meaning.
THE HUMAN MOMENT
Nicholas finally broke it.
"Do you know why we never allowed widespread knowledge of the Stone?"
Zack waited.
Nicholas looked tired not physically, but philosophically.
"Because humans are predictable. They will destroy themselves chasing eternity."
Zack answered simply:
> "Then perhaps the world needs something stronger than desire."
Perenelle raised her chin.
"And what would that be?"
> "A blueprint."
Both froze not in fear, but recognition.
Zack placed a small crystalline module on the table. No glow. No hum. Just presence.
> "This is not leverage. Not a trade. But a promise."
Nicholas examined it without touching.
"What does it do?"
Zack answered:
> "It prevents knowledge from being lost."
Perenelle inhaled quietly.
"…A safeguard against time."
> "And against forgetting," Zack replied.
THE DECISION
Nicholas and Perenelle shared a long, silent exchange centuries compressed into a glance.
Finally, Nicholas reached into his robes.
And placed a fragment of the Philosopher's Stone on the table.
Not the whole Stone.
Just enough.
Perenelle spoke calmly:
"You will share what you learn."
Nicholas added:
"And you will not seek dominion."
Zack answered without hesitation:
> "Knowledge is partnership. Control is failure."
Nicholas held out the fragment.
Zack accepted it not as a conqueror.
As a collaborator.
LOG ENTRY
> FLAMEL STATUS: ALLY
SOUL RESEARCH ACCESS GRANTED
STONE SAMPLE ACQUIRED
Final Line
For the first time since awakening,
Zack did not feel like he was observing humanity.
He felt like he had begun working with it.