The Atlas Six (The Atlas, #1)(26)

“However,” Atlas continued, “part of your job as the new class of initiates is to develop a protocol that suits you as a collective. And before you ask what that means,” he assured Libby with a smile, “I’m happy to explain. As with all the most crucial secrets, there are quite a number of people who know of the Society’s existence. Several organizations have targeted it over the years for robbery, infiltration, or, in some cases, destruction. Thus, we rely not only on the charms in place, but also on the Society’s resident class of initiates to maintain their own security detail.”

“Wait,” said Libby, who was still caught on the prospect of global secrets being widely known. “So that means—”

“It means the first thing to discuss will be your proficiency at magical defense,” Atlas confirmed, as a series of chairs materialized behind each of them. “Sit, please,” he beckoned, and warily, all six of them took their requested seats; Reina perhaps most warily of all. “I won’t be long,” Atlas added as a measure of assurance. “Your responsibility this afternoon will be determining your plan as a group. I am mostly here to provide guidance before I leave you to it.”

“Has anyone ever stolen anything successfully?” asked Tristan, who seemed to be the most cynical of the group, or at least the first to voice his cynicism.

“Or actually broken in to any degree of success?” Nico added.

“Yes,” said Atlas. “In which case, I hope your magical offense is equally as refined as your defense, as you will be asked to retrieve anything that is removed without permission.”

“Asked,” echoed Reina at a murmur, and Atlas turned to her with a smile.

“Asked,” he confirmed, “politely. And from there, dealt with as appropriate.”

That was about as well-mannered a threat as Callum might have expected. This was all exceedingly British, from the dome of the so-called ‘painted room’ to the idea that they would be summoned to dinner by a gong.

Libby, of course, raised her hand tentatively in the air. “How often, exactly, are we expected to defend the Society’s…” A pause. “Collection?”

“Well, that depends on the strength of your system.” Briefly, a red glow manifested in the corner of the room, and then disappeared. “That, for example,” said Atlas, “was a thwarted attempt to enter the Society’s perimeter. Though, it’s also possible someone simply forgot their keys.”

He was smiling, so this was apparently a joke. Callum had the sense Atlas Blakely wanted very badly for them to like him; or, at the very least, he was the sort of person who always had an expectation of being liked.

“As to the subject of the… ‘collection,’ as you called it, Miss Rhodes,” Atlas said with a nod in Libby’s direction, “meaning the contents of the Library, that is a more complex matter. You will all gain access to the Society’s records in stages; as you earn the Society’s trust, you will be permitted further steps. Each door unlocked will lead to another door, which, once unlocked, will lead to another. Metaphorically, of course.”

Nico this time: “And these doors…?”

“We’ll start with physicalities. Space,” said Atlas. “The fundamental laws of physics and how to bypass them.”

At that, Libby and Nico exchanged a glance; it was the first time, Callum noted, that Libby did not have one of her spectacularly awkward behaviors on display.

“Once you’ve proven you can be trusted with the most readily available of our findings, you will move on to the next subject. The five initiates will move even further, of course, over the course of their second year. From there, things become much more specialized; Dalton, for example,” said Atlas, with a reference over his shoulder to where Dalton had all but blended into the wallpaper, “works in such a narrow field of expertise that only he is permitted to access those materials at present.”

Parisa, Callum could see, found this to be a very interesting trinket of information indeed.

“Not even you?” asked Reina, surprising them once again with her voice.

“Not even me,” Atlas confirmed. “We do not, as a society, believe it is necessary for one man to know everything. We don’t consider it particularly possible, either, and certainly not very safe.”

“Why not?” (Libby again.)

“Because the problem with knowledge, Miss Rhodes, is its inexhaustible craving. The more of it you have, the less you feel you know,” said Atlas. “Thus, men often go mad in search of it.”

“And how do the women take it?” prompted Parisa.

Atlas gave her a curt half-smile.

“Most know better than to seek it,” he said, which sounded, to Callum, like a warning.

“When you say a system,” Libby began. Callum flinched, irked again as Atlas turned his attention back to her. She was like a mosquito; the effect of her anxiety wasn’t exactly painful, but it did seem to be unrelenting. Callum couldn’t sit comfortably in one spot.

“There are six of you,” Atlas said, gesturing to the group of them. “You each maintain one-sixth responsibility for the Society’s security. How you divide it is up to you. Now, before I leave you to it,” he said, seeming to startle Libby with the prospect she might have to go unsupervised, “I will say that while you do not presently have access to everything in the Society’s purview, you are very much responsible for the entirety of its protection. Please bear this in mind as you devise your plan.”