When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. [Book of Genesis]

You move around Antares 9 naturally, without thinking, as if it is your home. And it was, still is. Even if it is separated from the rest of the space station as long as this whole Library thing is going on.

As you fuss with the tea synthesiser, you notice Adam struggling to stay put on one of the leather stools that abuts a counter which doubles as a dining table. He keeps floating up, scrambling to go back down, and eventually gives up and buckles himself in.

The buckles are for rookies. For those who, even through training, have not yet mastered the zero-g environment enough to multitask while staying 'grounded.' You have to remind yourself that Adam did not even have the luxury of basic zero-g training.

You are waiting for answers to your earlier questions. About how Adam ended up here and whether he has a Tome like the rest of you. You are waiting as patiently as you can bear, bringing up his café job and reassuring him as best you can.

Adam takes the tea you offer gratefully and, after a few unsuccessful tries, manages to suck down some of the drink out of specialised bottle.

He lets out a satisfied gasp. “Didn't know space tea could taste so good!”

“Uh huh.” You lean against the counter, glancing surreptitiously at the control panel again. Nothing.

“Um…” He scratches the back of his neck. “Like I said, it was weird. It was a lot. The last thing I remember is getting on the space shuttle, strapping in like the captain instructed, and then, just as we were taking off, there was a bright light. So big, so white it just… consumed the entire ship. Does that count as a reflective surface?”

His doubtful tone and sceptical expression mirror your own.

“I… hmm…” You don't want to eliminate possibilities. Not yet. “What about this?”

You tap your Tome which has long since completed its transformation into a sleek logbook.

Adam reaches out with an open hand, pseudo-asking permission, and you hand it over. He begins examining it. You left it password locked, but you balk in surprise when Adam says.

“Damn, sis. You really were missing us, weren't ya? There's some sappy stuff right in 'ere.”

“Adam!” you snap and swipe your logbook Tome out of his hand. “I knew you were paying attention in the Academy!”

He shrugs with a smirk still on his face. “But to answer your question… no. I don't have one of these 'Tomes'. I did hear a voice though. Well… it felt more like words were being transmitted into my brain… something about how…” He frowns. “… A Sarah Deckker needed a reason to transcend her limitations?”

“Transcend… limitations…?” you repeat, your voice dripping with even more scepticism than before. “You sure you aren't messing with me, Adam? This is not the time, I swear on…”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Adam raises his hands and floats a few centimetres up. “No need to swear on anything! I'm not bull-shitting you. The words were… like the… the Book! Yeah, that Book fella who you were talking with.”

You freeze. That conversation… was not in your Tome… but in the Original Book themselves. “How did you know that, Adam?”

He looks confused, bewildered even. “You were talking to them in that owl café… weren't ya?”

Was the Book projecting the conversation to Adam while in the Hoot House too? This… this is not right, something inside you, something primal, warns.

“Yeah… a private conversation, I assumed…” You trail off. “Wait. Are you telling me The Intern never gave you a Tome? What about pears? Did the Serpent give you something like this?”

You pick up the golden pear and shake it in front of your brother who shrinks back, eyes wide.

“It would look like this, but green. Like a regular ol' Earth pear.” You realise how you must be coming off. Like someone who had completely lost it. Zero-g madness, some called it. That is, until any lunacy was always written off as a Simplex possession.

Just as you are beginning to lower the pear, to start a hasty apology to Adam, his demeanour changes into something cold… something… emotionless.

“[Commander Sarah P. Deckker, we would suggest you calm down. Otherwise you will break your brother before he can confirm or deny your suspicions.]”

The words are somehow entering your ears and your mind in Adam's voice. His lips stop moving after 'suspicions'. But that was not Adam.

You whirl around, snag the cutlass you had found in Amar's Bookshop, and point it at Adam's throat.

“Simplex,” you hiss. Had Adam been hijacked by it right before being summoned to the Hoot House?

“[No.]” Adam's voice, Adam's body, but there is something else there. Your Tome is vibrating and buzzing across the counter. R.E.X. begins running around your feet, yipping just like a frightened, organic dog would. “[Adam. And Adam's sponsor. Adam's Guardian. The Original Book.]”

“What?!” You don't lower your cutlass, though glance momentarily at your logbook. Message notifications from an unknown contact are rapidly filling the screen. “Since when do you have the power to… to… possess people, or whatever you are doing to Adam?”

Adam's eyes flick to yours and you see confusion there, clearly belonging to your younger twin.

“I'm here, Sarah.” “[He's here, Commander.]”

You clutch your head with one hand. This is all so much. Nearly too much.

“[This is a shared line, Commander,]” the Book says with Adam's voice, Adam's mouth. “[It happened because of this.. unconventional method.]”

“I'm not Chosen, Sarah,” Adam, actual Adam, admits. “Isn't that fitting? As always… the Chosen twin is you. It's always you.”

The smile he gives you is equal parts sorrowful, bitter, and reassuring. It is a smile that is all Adam. The deepest part of Adam even. No one could fake that. Not even a Library Guardian.

But that doesn't mean it doesn't break your heart into a million pieces.

“Adam, no! That's – that's not true! Mum and Da and I, we, we always look after you because we know! We know you are better than all of us. Not less. More.”

It's sincere. Your twin may not aspire to be a leader, to be great in the 'go down in the history books' sort of way. But he didn't need to be. He just needed to be good. And he was. Is, you correct yourself.

You reach out your hand to cradle his head despite the roaring in your ears. Your eyes fill with tears again.

The Book says, “[We brought Adam to help you. Help you escape, help you save everyone. To return to your timeline.]”

“I… I might be able to recreate portals, but why bring Adam in to something so dangerous…?”

“[Reunion and redemption are powerful motivators. Besides, isn't this the start of what you always wanted? A chance to make things right?]” The Book's timbre fades from Adam's voice and the manic buzzing of your Tome finally stops.

You still want to interrogate the Book. Still want confirmation of whether your space station is still free falling or if it is has already crashed or burned into a crisp upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.

But… you just have Adam left. Adam, who is apparently a conduit through which the Original Book can communicate. Because he is not Chosen?

So he is not bound by the same rules as the rest of you… maybe?

You sob and envelop Adam in a messy embrace.

“Sarah, I'm scared. I-I… I swear it's not the Simplex. I want them to help us. I want to help so I… I…”

“It's okay… It's okay…” You repeat like a mantra even as the opposite rhetoric chants in your head.

This is wrong. This is wrong. This is very wrong.

And you remember a phrase from an old, holy text that sat lonesome and forgotten in your Da's study, before neo-Ptolemy was popular, before your family adopted those beliefs as their own:

So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side[m] of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. [Book of Genesis]

Who had been Chosen? Who had been banished? You or Adam? And who would guard the way back to both of your old lives?