Going back to his big house after meeting Lyra felt strange. The quiet rooms felt empty. Tayo kept thinking about the Energy Spire. It was like a tall wall he could not get past. He knew they needed to find out more about it, but how? It was too risky to ask questions in his house.
He decided to look in the old rooms in his house, the ones with old books made of paper. These books were very old, from a long time ago. He looked for old maps of the city. Maybe he could find something about the Spire. It was slow work. The books were dusty, and the writing was hard to understand.
One day, he found a large, old paper map rolled up. It was thin and old. He opened it carefully. His heart jumped a little. This map was not of the Spire itself, but of tunnels under the ground near where the Spire was now. It showed many tunnels, some marked in a way he did not know. They looked old, maybe forgotten.
Just then, he heard feet outside the room door. It was Kael, his father's worker. Tayo quickly rolled up the map and hid it. He tried to look like he was just reading another book. Kael came in.
"Tayo, your father wants to see you," she said. Her eyes looked at the place where he had been standing. Tayo hoped she did not see anything.
"Yes, Kael. I'm coming," Tayo said. He left the map hidden. He had to remember what he saw.
Lyra was also trying to find out things. She talked to people who worked near the Spire. People who sold food there, or drove carts. She asked them questions carefully. She also talked to Elara again. Elara told her stories about old tunnels that were closed up when the Spire was built.
Lyra learned that there were tunnels under the Spire where things were brought in and trash was taken out. She also heard that there was a way into these tunnels that was not watched by many guards late at night.
Tayo and Lyra planned to meet again. They met in an old, empty building near the river. The buildings were falling down, and no one came here. The wind made sounds that covered their voices.
"I found something," Tayo said. He showed Lyra a quick drawing he made of the old map, the tunnels and the symbols. "It's a map of old tunnels under the ground near the Spire."
Lyra looked at the drawing. "Forgotten tunnels... Elara told me about those," she said. Then she told Tayo what she had learned. "There are new tunnels under the Spire for deliveries. And there is a way into them that is not watched closely at night."
They thought about the information. The old map showed tunnels. Lyra's information was about new tunnels and a way in.
"So," Lyra said, putting the ideas together. "There are old tunnels, maybe under the new ones. And we know how to get into the new tunnels, at a certain time."
Tayo looked at his drawing. It was still very scary. Getting into the delivery tunnels was one step. Finding the old tunnels from there and getting into the Spire was another, very hard step. And they still did not know exactly what they were looking for inside the Spire.
"It's not a lot of information," Tayo said.
"It's a thread," Lyra said. "A thread to pull. The old tunnels, the new tunnels... it's a way to go under the Spire. Not through the main door."
The Energy Spire still looked like a tall wall they could not get past. But now, they had an idea of how to start. A small plan, made from an old map and quiet talks. The darkness around the Spire was still deep, but they had found a tiny light, a way they might be able to get into the heart of the city's power. The next step was clear, very scary, and waiting for them underground.