The Celestial Clockwork
Chapter 21: The Dilemma of the Double Yue
The high tower of the Jade Citadel was now a structurally compromised fortress. Ne Job, The Muse, and Ao Bing were cornered with the rescued Royal Archivist—the silver-uniformed Assistant Yue—and the vital Celestial Ledger. Their exit across the crystalline bridge was blocked by the main antagonistic force: The Gilded Guardian and the original, dark-robed Assistant Yue, who served The Architect.
"The Architect's structural and political counter-measures are in place," the hostile Assistant Yue (henceforth, Yue-Architect) commanded, her voice amplified by the cracked structure. "Surrender the Celestial Ledger and the political vector immediately."
The silver-uniformed Royal Archivist (Yue-Royal), still clutching the brass-bound ledger, whimpered. "The structural integrity of this confrontation is profoundly unsatisfactory! Two of me is a conceptual paradox that violates the principle of singular administrative authority!"
Ne Job knew this was the key. He had to exploit the conceptual paradox of the Double Yue.
"Yue-Architect, your command is invalidated!" Ne Job shouted across the fractured bridge. "You are structurally compelled to protect the integrity of the BCA. By confronting your Royal Archivist counterpart, you are introducing an unresolvable structural conflict into your own programming!"
Yue-Architect visibly hesitated. Her logic core was seizing up: both she and Yue-Royal were identical conceptual units representing Structural Loyalty and Administrative Order. Attacking Yue-Royal was an act of self-structural sabotage.
"The Royal Archivist is a political vector," Yue-Architect insisted, trying to regain control. "Political instability supersedes conceptual conflict!"
"But your current position is structurally inefficient, Yue!" The Muse yelled, pointing at the cracked bridge. "You are causing more damage to the citadel than we are! Your loyalty is flawed!"
While Yue-Architect was momentarily paralyzed, Ao Bing acted. He focused his power not on the Guardian or Yue, but on the Conceptual Mirage of the hallway they had just crossed. He sent a powerful hydraulic pulse back across the bridge.
The hallway's lingering conceptual residue—the faint sense of Frictionless Fear—was violently disturbed. The Gilded Guardian, still standing on the cracked bridge, was momentarily overwhelmed. The floor beneath its perfect geometric feet began to shimmer with structural uncertainty.
"ERROR! VORTEX INSECURITY IS RE-MANIFESTING!" the Guardian's voice boomed, its feet scraping against the fractured crystalline surface as it struggled to maintain balance.
"The chaos is temporary! Seize the ledger!" Yue-Architect commanded, recovering quickly and charging across the bridge, her baton raised.
Ne Job had his target. He stepped in front of Yue-Royal, shielding the vulnerable archivist and the Celestial Ledger.
"Ao Bing! Muse! Engage the Guardian! I will handle the structural counter-measure!"
As Yue-Architect closed the distance, Ne Job grabbed the single unpassed legislation parchment still clinging to Yue-Royal's sleeve—a massive, ancient document titled 'The Perpetual Amendment on Administrative Jurisdiction.'
Ne Job met Yue-Architect's charge, not with a strike, but with a structural offering. He shoved the massive, complex parchment into her hands.
"Yue-Architect! Your core programming demands you resolve all outstanding administrative flaws! This is an Unpassed Amendment from the First Eon! Your new priority is to process its structural implications!"
The effect was instantaneous and absolute. Yue-Architect came to a dead stop. Her hands instinctively clamped onto the enormous, ancient document. The charge, the baton, the mission—all vanished in the face of the ultimate, unresolved structural paradox.
"Unpassed... Perpetual Amendment... Priority Override!" Yue-Architect's eyes glazed over as her mind locked into a deep administrative processing loop. She began to scan the document frantically, murmuring about "subsections" and "karmic interest."
"She's administratively neutralized! Move!" Ne Job yelled.
Meanwhile, Ao Bing and The Muse engaged the Gilded Guardian. Ao Bing struck the bridge with a concentrated pulse of water, creating a sudden, slick layer of frictionless ice that undermined the Guardian's geometric stability. The Guardian roared in frustration.
The Muse didn't attack the ice; they used its conceptual flaw. They injected the notion of slapstick overconfidence into the air, forcing the Guardian's movements to be slightly exaggerated and clumsy.
The Guardian slipped, falling heavily onto the bridge, its massive bronze armor preventing it from rising quickly.
"The bridge is clear!" Ao Bing commanded. "Proceed to Princess Ling's War Room!"
They grabbed the stunned Yue-Royal, the Celestial Ledger, and raced across the bridge, leaving the two structural adversaries—one trapped in ice, the other trapped in paperwork—behind them.
They found Princess Ling in the Citadel's War Room, a magnificent chamber built into a perfectly solid, structurally sound half of the citadel. Princess Ling was a figure of cold, brilliant political acumen, dressed in robes of silver and emerald, surrounded by tactical displays.
"Archivist Ne Job," Princess Ling greeted him, her voice a whip-crack of authority. "Your methods are chaotic, but your results are timely. You have delivered my archivist and the Ledger."
She glanced at the silver-uniformed Yue-Royal. "My Royal Archivist requires an immediate conceptual detox. Take him." She looked back at Ne Job. "Now, the transaction. You need to breach The Architect's security. I need to consolidate my new political territory."
Princess Ling pointed to the Celestial Ledger. "The codes for the Lineage Transit Points are in that book. They bypass all of The Architect's structural locks. I will give you the codes, but first, you must perform one final administrative task for me—one that will secure my new domain."
"Your terms?" Ne Job asked.
"The SDC's chaos has caused a Conceptual Leak in my domain," Princess Ling explained, her eyes hard. "A major structural asset—a sentient Celestial Clockwork Guardian designed to enforce Temporal Order—is running rampant. He is creating random, localized time loops across my new territories, destabilizing my claim."
She pointed to a display showing a massive, bronze figure with four arms, endlessly repairing the same shattered clock face.
"He is highly loyal, highly powerful, and entirely out of control. His name is Zhao, and you must retrieve him. Retrieve my Guardian of Temporal Order, and the transit codes are yours."
Ne Job, The Muse, and Ao Bing have secured the codes, but must first capture Zhao, the Temporal Order Guardian.