15[20:13] Around Nexus, three doors open in narrative unison. 15[20:17] At the edge of Lookshytown, the one standing structure at the heart of a tent city admits Xu Sim, who has promised to cure the honey-maze plague strangling the city. Here the air is thick with smoke; blooded generals and infantry with torches work shoulder to shoulder to keep the roses and bees as far from the quarantine as possible. More bodies trickle in constantly. "I didn't think he'd let you back. What's the plan?" [20:19] "I've cured myself of the plague... Sort of. I have a sample of pure honey, which my own body extruded through some sort of internal alchemical process." [20:20] 5 Xu Sim strides through the camp with the grace of a heron, his tattered white robes flowing behind him in the smoky breeze. [20:20] "Take me to the most advanced cases. I trust you've continued to treat them with cold iron compresses around their atemi?" 15[20:21] In the Nexus, the city's heard beats with rapid panic. Uniformed Guildsmen hurry to and fro, following orders from on high to withdraw the Guild from the city and bring their riches with them. You can see it from the fish market across the way, where a cafe has been rendered nearly empty for the lunch organized by Stranger Visits Heaven and Keldar. [20:21] 14Despicable, and good business. [20:21] 14But I repeat myself. 15[20:21] Syndic of Tithes, a powerful Factor and not at all the person they came to see, waves them to an otherwise-empty table. [20:22] 14Stranger is in his usual, understated robes, and tapping away with his walking cane while not cleaving all that faithfully to what it implies. [20:22] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's dressed in leathers, with an iron sword at his side. He nods to Syndic before taking a seat, idly looking around the premises as he leans back in the offered chair. [20:23] 14Is there tea? 15[20:23] In a dingy club, a tiny bell jingles as Xia Lan pushes the door open. It dangles from the collar on one of Tohu's necks while she sweeps dust off a shelf with luxurious swipes of her tail. "Dear?" 15[20:24] There is! Two pots: Forest Greenleaf and what smells like a Sijanese black that Stranger can't immediately recognize. [20:25] 14Mmm. He'll investigate the unfamiliar blend first. [20:27] 13Xia Lan's cooled off considerably since yelling at Stranger and Xu Sim, but seeing Tohu finally calms her down completely. Something unsettling about the hive mind thing, but hey, she really makes it work. "Tohu! Do you have a moment, or should I come back later?" 15[20:28] The physician-lieutenant stops at the door. "Our most advanced cases? We won't be going to the tents, then. We've got them in the cells." [20:32] 14Stranger takes the seat graciously offered, and pours himself a cup of the Sijanese. Instead of a proper greeting: "Red Heaven. Excellent for impressing your guests...and for wakes." [20:32] "Good afternoon, Overfactor." [20:33] "Time is of the essence. Have any of them passed yet? I suspected their minds, or souls, would separate - what can we say of my hypothesis?" 5 The doctor takes long, flowing strides that betray no uncertainty or nerves at the prospect of being surrounded by - potentially - thousands of dream-addled spirits bent on destruction in the service of Chaotic Rakshastan. 15[20:38] The physician-lieutenant leads Xu Sim, instead, downstairs -- the pair of them pass multiple guards and checkpoints on their way through a rough wine-cellar into what looks like a proper First Age tunnel and then past that into a cavern which seems to have been blown out of the stonework of old Hollow and very recently fashioned into about ten rough iron-barred cells. The wall at the far end of the chamber is bare and smooth, as if they've yet to get around to adding the rest. "No one's separated yet that I've seen. You mean it gets worse than this?" [20:40] "I can't say for sure. I coughed up a chunk of honey, and it passed from me." 5 Hurrying along, sparing a glance at the First Age masonry, he explains his plan:  "We shall devise a curative elixir, one to be replicated by every shaman, doctor, chirurgeon, and alchemist for leagues around. And we shall use that to break the honey-maze's back, like the city breaking a fever." 15[20:42] Tohu: "We can talk while we work. What can I do for you?" 15[20:43] Syndic: "You're too kind. But I fear the Syndic has been delayed. He's asked me to reassure you that whatever you can say to me, you can say to him." 15[20:43] *I fear the Overfactor [20:45] 14Stranger: "I hope that would not give us cause to repeat ourselves. We are, as you seem quite aware, running short on time." [20:45] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar frowns. "How about 'show yourself'?" [20:46] 13Xia Lan: "...if I asked you to host another round of the Old Game, what would you say?" 13Best to get straight to the point. And leave the talking about why for later. 15[20:48] Xu Sim probes and examines the men and women straining against their bindings or screaming into the darkest corner of their cells. These people are all lost to the honey-maze, that much is without doubt. What is in doubt is the state of their bodies. They hold up to quite intensive scrutiny, but a combination of his deep knowledge of human anatomy and his magical intuition lead him to several obscure and frankly alarming tests that reveal that these are simulacra of human bodies, and seem to be made of firm, gelatinized honey. 15[20:49] They behave, react, respond almost precisely as you would expect them to, were they flesh... [20:49] "Yozi's balls," 5 Xu Sim gasps. 15[20:51] Syndic: "Yes, of course. Please understand that this is out of my and my master's control. He was summoned to Council Tower, to give testimony on a revenue shortfall. He should be here as soon as he can." 15[20:52] Keldar sees that aside from them the place is empty, aside from the old lady puttering at the kitchen visible and smellable in the back, and the young woman who quietly approaches the table menus-in-hand. [20:52] 5 Fingers steepled, the good doctor takes careful stock of the situation. If honey they be now, what's become of their flesh? They may be gone completely. He produces the glass-encased reddened honey brick he coughed up previously. It is essential to compare and contrast the two, under the most rigorous circumstances possible. 15[20:52] Tohu blinks. "Why?" [20:53] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar takes a menu absent-mindedly while continuing to subject Syndic to a sharp look. "We could meet him there." [20:54] 14Stranger: "Summoned by whom?" [20:54] 5 Xu Sim:  "I will need to establish a secure laboratory down here. Carry down the broadest variety you can, as quickly as you can. I have a battery of tests that I must conduct." 15[20:55] Syndic: "By the Council. Councilor Hayle signed the summons, I believe." [20:55] 13Xia Lan: "Xu Sim and Stranger broke my trust," 13she says, carefully. She smooths out her skirt and moves to sit on one of the stools at the bar, near where Tohu is cleaning but out of the way. [20:56] 14Stranger, as he glances about the room: "Mmmm. Shame about Brueghal." [21:03] 14Interesting that Hayle is the one doing the summoning. Hayle should be on their side, and opposed to the former Evening Master's faction. Perhaps things are more complicated than they seem...or perhaps the signature is a formality. [21:12] 14When the server swings by next: "Ah. Excuse me. Convey my compliments to the teamaster on the Red Heaven and the...oh my, this is embarrassing." 14He gestures to the pot of Forest Greenleaf. "What blend is this, again?" 15[21:17] The server looks at the teapot for a beat and then smiles sweetly at Stranger. "Oh, that's a house blend. Thief Black Leaf." 15[21:18] Tohu: "Oh, dear. What happened? Do you want a drink?" [21:18] 14Stranger smiles gently. "Forest Greenleaf. Please, have a seat. We'll all be more comfortable." 15[21:19] Physician-Lieutenant: "I'll have some guys down here in a minute. Against the far wall okay? I can get the Dragonlord if we need more space." [21:19] 14He plucks a cup from the set in the center of the table. "You should try some; it's a fantastic blend." [21:21] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's frowning more deeply. To Stranger: "Whadda we do about this?" [21:22] 14To Keldar: "We have a polite conversation with the persons the Guild has made available, and if it goes nowhere, there are consequences for it." [21:22] 13Xia Lan: "Yes, please." 13She places some coins on the counter. Anything with a kick's good. "They drugged me. Nothing dangerous, harmful, or otherwise intoxicating - the opposite, really - otherwise I'd be considerably angrier with them, and much more likely to just, cut ties or something. But! Honor demands satisfaction. So. The Old Game." [21:26] 5 Xu Sim shows a hint of surprise at the Physician-Lieutenant's implication.  "It won't be necessary to involve him, I am sure," 5 he reassures her. 15[21:26] "Alright, back in a bit." 15[21:28] Xia Lan gets a Bloody Mnemon, celery stalk and all. "What are you fighting for?" [21:30] 5 Xu Sim leans against the wall, examining the creatures. "Yep. Tulpas. If that's the case..." 5 Xu Sim forms his hands into the Mudra To prevent Errors of the Six Senses, casting his sight into the realm of sorcery and spirits, to see if - like true tulpa, these poor wretches are connected back to their dreaming bodies by silvery, dreamy, astral chains. 15[21:39] The server sits, taking the cloth on her arm and spreading it over her lap like a napkin. "The cook is very good," she says. "You should order. I brought her in special. Had to replace the owner." She begins pulling her face off, her voice falls apart into faint, papery wisps. "Ashamed he should be to be Chiaroscuran and call this a fishmonger." [21:39] 14Stranger chuckles but the laugh doesn't reach his eyes. [21:40] 14Stranger: "And so you did...what with him?" [21:42] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar just barely starts, such that he leans back and widens his eyes a bit before narrowing them again. "You're - what was the point of all that?" 15[21:42] Stranger, Syndic, and Keldar share a table with a pale, bald old man with impossibly dry and wrinkled skin, staring out at them from eyes in sunken sockets that catch the light but don't move or quaver. His face is obscured by a large, bristly moustache. "He's going to open a new place somewhere else. We are very generous with our buyouts. 15[21:43] To Keldar: "You have a certain reputation. I wanted to see you with my own eyes, and I needed you to prove you could behave. I think you can. Am I wrong?" [21:44] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Me, I always act appropriately." [21:44] 13Xia Lan: "Hm." 13She takes a sip. "It was for ideas, words. A deal. Can games be played for those kinds of stakes, or..." 13She shakes her head. "It's got to be something concrete, doesn't it?" 15[21:44] The Overfactor smells like dust and dried flowers. "Then forgive my paranoia." [21:48] 14As Stranger sips his tea, the empty circle on his forehead flares to life. "I, on the other hand, am a known troublemaker." [21:48] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Sure. Now, to business: don't pull out of Nexus." He pauses, glances down, and then turns to yell over his shoulder to the cook. "Hey, gimme, uh, the third one, the squid plate! And don't go easy on the sauce." 15[21:49] Tohu: "Something has to change hands. The loser has to lose something, and the winner has to win something." [21:54] 13Xia Lan: "Hmmph." 13Another sip. "...the recipe of the drug. I want to know how they did it. I win, I get the recipe. I lose, I drop all claims and objections to it. Is that a fair prize?" 15[22:00] Xu Sim elevates his senses, and sees every body in the room bound in thorns. Thorned vines hold the bodies up and tug them to and fro like a puppeteer's strings. He sees thorns twisting all through their body, branching smaller and smaller in some weird mimickry of blood or nerves. He sees vines curl and coil and knot in their skulls. And he sees a long and bloody tangle of thorns flow from each of their torsos and into nothing, held aloft by some invisible tension as they vanish into the bare northern wall. 15[22:01] Tohu: "If they agree. Did you shake on it?" [22:02] 13Xia Lan: "Not yet. To be honest, I was still pretty angry with them when I left... I hadn't thought about the prize clearly. But, if they do - you would host this?" 15[22:06] "Can they sing?" [22:07] 14Xia Lan has definitely heard Stranger singing to himself in the common room when he thought no one was listening. He's got real talent, though he lacks a bit in showmanship. 15[22:08] "Mmm." The Overfactor pours himself a cup of the Red Heaven. "Well in either case, I trust both of you understand the reasoning behind our decision." [22:08] 13Xia Lan: "Not as well as me. But, broadly speaking, yes." 15[22:08] "So the question is this: why are we wrong?" [22:09] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Your reasoning, near as I can figure, is that Nexus is going to lose. Yeah?" [22:09] 5 These chains no doubt lead to Apis, the Queen of the East, whose approach shakes the earth to the north of Nexus. The tulpa are too far gone to be recovered - if ever such a thing was possible. Xu Sim prepares a battery of tests - ten subjects is quite a generous sample to work with for this sort of thing. 15[22:10] Overfactor: "'Lose' is a small word to cover so much ground. There are more than two outcomes to this war. We make a determination based on the relatively likelihood, cost, and benefit of each." 15[22:10] "And we have determined, on balance, that we are more likely to lose more than we will gain by protecting our assets." [22:10] 14Stranger: "That's not a no." 15[22:12] The Overfactor just 'mmm's again and sips his tea. [22:12] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Okay, but how long ago did you determine that? Right now there's a good six or seven anathema - me included - standing against the incoming fae. There's Looksy's Shogunate weaponry and Thorns's legions and the Beast. And I've only just started training the local militia." [22:13] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "This isn't some kind of-" 12Keldar pauses and leans a little sideways, curious if the Overfactor's going to follow the motion. "-some kind of sixty-forty, multiply by each decimal and subtract hedged bet thing. We're winning this." [22:13] 14He stirs his tea. "I'm less inclined than my colleague to care about your motivations. I feel I grasp them fairly well. Plainly, I don't like them. The main question that I put to you is this: when we do win, after you flee, will you feel that you have the right of return?" 15[22:13] The cook brings Keldar's squid plate out herself. Did Stranger order? Syndic of Tithes isn't eating. Or speaking. Or moving. [22:13] 14Stranger did not order food. 15[22:14] The Overfactor: "And here we reach the heart of the matter." [22:14] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar sniffs, then chows down. Squid's great! 15[22:15] He sets the teacup down and it clinks against the china. "The question I put to the factors was this: is it better for business if you lose or if you win?" [22:15] 5 The objective of the tests is simple: To destroy these creatures, or sever them from Apis' control, as quickly and easily as possible. Ideally something that a halfwitted laborer conscripted two days ago can remember or implement. Xu Sim's supplies are ample and he begins his work, focusing on combinations of iron and salt, ash and sand, and alcohol. 15[22:15] "The conclusion we came to--" Here the Overfactor gestures to his factor "--is that the prospect of your *victory*, much more than your defeat, risks our prospects." 15[22:15] "Raksha bargain." [22:17] 14Stranger: "And that led you to ask questions about us, rather than questions about yourselves." 15[22:17] "Do you think we misapprehend ourselves?" [22:17] 5 Xu Sim considers the use of saltpeter, or low concentrations of firedust - and resolves to use such a combination on the final unfortunate wretch. [22:18] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "The fuck you say. Nexus as it stands is the center of the Guild's operation. You've got no guarantee whatsoever it even slightly resembles itself after the faerie lords roll in. They hate the Emissary, they're not gonna take up his project." [22:18] "I'm not sure." 14He sips the tea. "All in all, I think it would be less pathetic if you did." 15[22:18] "So I gather." [22:19] "That's not a response, Overfactor. That's just the emptiness behind you." 15[22:19] To Keldar: "The Emissary's project, such as it is, is no more reliable than you are." [22:19] "...What should I call you? Do you have a name?" 15[22:20] The Overfactor smiles a little smile. "I used to." [22:20] 14Stranger: "Then we have one thing in common." [22:20] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I'm as reliable as they come, buddy. What the Emissary set up here'll outlive him - even though he went on to outlive himself, or whatever's going on over there." [22:21] 14Stranger: "Perhaps we should take being compared to the Emissary as a compliment." 15[22:21] The Overfactor: "So you say. Does your cohort agree? Do you, Stranger Visits Heaven, see a Nexus with its dogmas restored?" [22:21] 14The silver-haired man just grins. [22:21] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "If you pull all the support beams out of this city and the raksha roll in and win, then you've just got --" 12He waves his hands vaguely. "Another damn freehold, right? Plus one place to sell people in exchange for crystal roses or whatever. No way that's better for your books than Nexus's continued, normal, operation." 15[22:22] Men have begun carrying down furniture while Xu Sim thinks. Tables and cabinets and so forth. [22:24] "Excellent. Set all that up. I'll return later to see if we can do something other than find a way to destroy these wretches on as large a scale as practicable." 5 He hurries up to meet the physician-lieutenant and asks to be taken to those who are not so far gone as this. [22:24] 5 Scratch that [22:25] 5 Xu Sim starts with a cauldron of water, boiling it to a scalding temperature before taking a pair of great tongs and overturning it to pour past the bars and into the cell of the first unfortunate tulpa. 15[22:26] The Overfactor: "You assume that the old ways will return when everything has settled down. That is where we differ. We don't think there's a real prospect of that. To invest as if it were would be folly beyond suicide. It would be as if you stabbed an arrow into your own leg to see if it would hurt, and then, knowing that it had, doing it again. To see if you could trust what happened the first time." [22:27] 14Now Stranger laughs. [22:27] <@Ferrinus> 12How did he -- Keldar's expression doesn't change. "What do you think's going to happen when all's settled down, then?" [22:28] "It depends, I think," 14he says, "on how 'old' old is." 15[22:28] "So it does." 15[22:31] Tohu: "Is it two-on-one?" [22:32] 13Xia Lan: "Just Stranger. Xu Sim... isn't fit to be in public, mostly, much less on stage." 15[22:32] Tohu: "And you'll be needing house bottles, yes?" [22:34] 5 He stands by with a large bag of sawdust, ready to soak up any leftover fluid. [22:35] "We're old souls, Overfactor," 14Stranger says. "We roll old dice, and we count them by old rules. Keldar has his respect for the Emissary, his respect for Nexus, and his respect for coin. I back his play in full. I hope he's right about the nature of this city. But if his faith is betrayed...well. I've got respect for far older covenants than these." [22:35] 13Xia Lan: "...I've half a mind to have Xu Sim make some of the bottles, but I don't think he's capable of anything like I saw against Vladok. Yet, anyway." [22:36] "So, yes." 15[22:36] A scream cuts through the babble and scrape that fills the tiny prison. Steaming water sloshes around the cell, the honey-man writhes, thrashing about in the water for a moment as a man might, before he seizes up and simply dissolves into the water. 15[22:36] The water flushes out of the cell and comes to a steaming halt at the sawdust on the floor. [22:38] "It's a wash," 5 Xu Sim quips as he spreads the bag into the cell, before leaving the cells to work on those whose lives can still be saved. 15[22:39] The Overfactor nods at Stranger. To Keldar: "And this is your closest ally. Your circle is just one force among many. You see my predicament. I must count on you to win over your circle, and your circle to win over all their allies, and you and your allies to crush all their adversaries, all while behaving in a predictable and sensible way." 15[22:40] Tohu: "You want me to scare up some of Vladok's stock? Keep the match interesting." 15[22:41] Xu Sim finds the physician-lieutenant and asks to be directed to the intensive but not terminal cases. She blinks at him. "Are you having a go at me?" [22:41] 13Xia Lan: "If in any way possible." 13She finishes her drink, and asks for another. Anything with a kick. [22:42] "No...? Surely there are others who aren't as far gone as that lot in the cells, who we can work with?" 15[22:42] Tohu pours her something with sparkling wine and orange juice. "Okay, but on one condition. This is the last time. No offense, dear, but you class the place up too much. Keep offering free concerts and I'll have to raise the cover." [22:43] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Where are you even going to go?" [22:43] 13Xia Lan smiles. "I don't think that'll be a problem. Honestly, the first time would've been the last if not for extraordinary circumstances." 15[22:43] "We have arrangements in many places. We were not wholly unprepared for a moment such as this." [22:47] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar thinks on this a moment, first leaning back and then looking off as he munches on some squid. "Mmm," 12he says after a moment. Then: "Well, look. Here's how I see it. The majority of the people actually fighting here - the Dawn Guard, the mercs sticking with us, the militia I'll train, yours truly - actually do want things to basically remain the same. We're fighting to [22:47] <@Ferrinus> maintain business as usual... which I'd tell you is the sensible thing." 15[22:47] Tohu: "The extraordinary circumstances of the first time it happened. I'm just saying, if something that happens at the second one makes you want to do a third, you're going to have to fight to the death like normal people." [22:47] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "If you stick with us through all that, then everyone involved's all the more likely to keep things ticking along afterward. Because they see the advantage, right?" [22:48] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "But if you don't... what the hell is the predictable, sensible thing for us to do then, eh? You're putting us in what they call a spot." [22:48] 13Xia Lan: "I've already threatened to cut Xu Sim's throat if he tries it again," 13she says sweetly. 15[22:48] Tohu yawns. "I can do tomorrow night. Tonight if you want to talk the artist playing tonight into playing another day." [22:50] 13Xia Lan: "I'll let you know as soon as I get their handshake. Given how much drinking's involved... we kind of want to clear our schedules for the day after. Tomorrow night sounds like a plan, though." 15[22:50] The physician-lieutenant: "We just had this conversation not five minutes ago! It's that way! Do you need an escort?" [22:51] 13Big sip from the drink. Delicious. "Who is playing tonight, by the way? I think my evening's clear, maybe I'll head back up this way." 15[22:53] Tohu: "Some nobody. He came in as a Songbird but he got let go. He wasn't on the boat the Guild bought for them out of the city. Do you know Mr. Tellurian?" [22:55] 13She scrunches up her face. "Is that his real name? Seems audacious." 15[22:55] Tohu: "You'd have to ask him. It's how he signed the contract, though." [22:57] 13Xia Lan: "Well, I've got to come back up here anyway, and I don't imagine I'll want to hang around with the rest of them much tonight. Maybe I'll stick around and give him a listen." [22:58] "You heard him work before?" 15[22:59] Tohu: "Yeah. He's not bad. Kind of a fuckup, though. Showed up to the sound test already hammered." [22:59] "No, it's fine. Keep an eye on these. They're made of honey; I believe they are marionettes of Apis, Queen of the East, whose army approaches from the North." 5 Xu Sim retraces his steps up to the tent city to begin the triage of those who might be saved. [23:02] 5 Among this, hopefully more familiar group, Xu Sim aims to reproduce the effect that being beaten to a pulp had on him - namely, the physical expulsion of the growing block of honey from the body before it can displace or transmute the flesh, bones, and everything else save a hint of mucuous and blood. [23:02] 13She winces. "Whoof. Guess that's how he got kicked out of the Songbirds then? Ah, probably shouldn't pry." 13She sips at her second drink of the afternoon. "I'm interested now, though. One of the best shows I ever saw before I started performing was that kinda guy." [23:03] "I mean, incredibly talented, but half the shows she played were just, out of her mind on whatever she could put into her body before showtime. Some guy tried booking her for morning performances but she'd just stay up all night to spite him." 15[23:05] The Overfactor: "I understand completely. But we must protect our own interests. We're more than happy to work alongside you where our interests align... but I'm all the more certain that here and now they don't. However, I am not unsympathetic. Are you willing to make a concrete agreement?" [23:06] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar chews a bit. "To what?" 15[23:07] "To protect the economic balance that has made Nexus what she is today." Another sip of tea. "What she was a season ago." [23:07] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Specifics?" 15[23:07] "We can hammer those out, if there is agreement in principle." 15[23:09] On the way, a pretty, but sickly amber-eyed woman stops and gives Xu Sim a hug. Her face is sticky with tears. "Thank you. Thank you again. Thank you so much." [23:10] "Anyway, first time I saw her, absolutely blew my mind with everything she was doing. The presence, the singing, the - the showmanship. It was inspiring!" 13She takes another drink. "The second time I saw her, she played off-key for fifteen minutes, puked into the audience, laid down for a while as the backing band played some instrumental bits, and puked into the crowd again before heading backstage. Mixed bag." 15[23:11] Tohu: "Well, you can come by tonight if you like. See which Mr. Tellurian shows up." 15[23:11] "If he throws up, at least the wasps will enjoy it." [23:11] 5 Xu Sim is taken aback, but tries to be gracious. "Save the thanks until I've cured you all," 5 he suggests, before giving her a cursory examination to determine her progress in the disease. [23:12] 13Xia Lan: "Think I will. Uh, is there an easy way to let you know about the agreement? Should I head backstage, or does that not make a difference?" [23:12] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I don't want to see Nexus change. I've been pretty up front there. But the more shit you cart straight out of the city the less I'm - anyone'll - be able to rely on the way things've always been. And the city's not gonna look much like itself if the Guild just up and leaves." [23:13] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "That's why I've been saying, if you WANT to maintain things rather than just write it all off as a loss, you gotta back us." [23:13] "In fact - my goodness, you are an advanced case. Sit down, right away." 5 Xu Sim is deeply concerned, but this is as good a place as any to begin coming up with the grand cure. 15[23:14] The Overfactor: "I understand completely. My question is, can I hold you to your word?" 15[23:14] "Will you swear here and now to honor our fellowship?" 15[23:14] "I will." 15[23:16] Another cat winds between Xia Lan's legs. A voice from the floor: "Ha! You're sweet to ask. Just grab the first one you see." 15[23:16] Four cats, in unison, from all around Xia Lan: "We'll take care of you." [23:18] 13Terrifying, but adorable nonetheless. She finishes her drink and only blushes a little bit. "I'll talk to you again tonight." 13If she was on better terms with Xu Sim right now, she'd ask him to figure out exactly what Tohu is, but Sun knows he might just try to cut one of them open. Maybe it's best that he doesn't show. [23:19] 14Stranger: "Swear what you will, but I'd suggest abiding by it. Keldar, you see, has the strict advantage of actually liking you. But if you cross him, or disrespect him, or otherwise fail to live up to the virtue he ascribes to you, then the conversation turns to me. And my virtue is quite different. Should the conversation turn to me, then we start talking about the realities of [23:19] withdrawing fully from the city. We start talking about what you owe the people of Nexus on paper that's not in your ledger. We start talking about all the things that break." [23:19] 13Drink finished, and agreement reached, the Unfettered Xia Lan heads back out onto the streets of Nexus, towards the hideout of the Centered Circle. Hopefully, she can meet up with Stranger there. 15[23:20] Xu Sim leads her back to the nearest empty tent... which is actually completely empty, though the air and the state of the cots suggests it's only recently so. "Why are you putting me back to bed?" the young woman asks. "You just said I could go home..." [23:21] "What? I didn't say anything of the sort. You need to stay here and be cured," 5 he explains. "Where is everyone else?" 5 A rising sense of panic grips the physician. [23:22] "Guards!" 5 he shouts as he examines her and begins assembling his tools. "Guards!" [23:23] 14Stranger: "And eventually, we'd find ourselves back at a table much like this, drinking tea much like this, with the city burning around us." [23:24] "But this time, I'd know your name." [23:26] 5 Xu Sim works rapidly - far faster than any mortal physician ever could. He asks his patient to stick out her tongue, turn her head and cough. He assembles his ingredients, and he sets to work - mixing, pounding mortar and pestle, adding water, preparing his tonic. For a moment, at least, he is lost to his work. But he glances around for the guards, nonetheless, when he has a moment's [23:26] 5thought to spare. 15[23:28] A dash of poppy to deaden the mind... a bit of vinegar to cut through the sweetness... ginger and stranger things to sharpen the senses. Xu Sim works rapidly but effectively. The concoction is elaborate, requiring precise amounts of many ingredients, and might actually be illegal even in Nexus. But he doses the young woman and her brow unknits, her fever breaks, and she settles peacefully to sleep. 15[23:28] There's more noise outside. A guard's walking by and catches Xu Sim's call, and keeps walking. Then he doubles back with a start. "Something wrong, sir?" [23:31] 5 The doctor, quite upset: "Where the fuck are all the patients? I've finally synthesized a cure and I need them here to take it. This one was babbling that she said she could go home; where are the others?" 15[23:31] The guard: "...sir?" 15[23:32] "You sent them home, sir. You said you cured them all." 15[23:33] The Overfactor's moustache twitches. He's silent for a long time. Syndic, still not moving or speaking, lets out a half-throated little cough. [23:34] 14Stranger's head turns slowly and strangely to consider Syndic. [23:34] 14Then it turns back to the Overfactor. 15[23:34] The Overfactor, finally, blandly: "Yes I take your point, Keldar. And I am happy to help where I can. But I will require a firm commitment on your part to offer one in kind. A handshake agreement. Are you prepared to discuss terms?" [23:35] 14It's all you now, Keldar. Good luck. [23:35] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "What kinda guarantee do you need, here?" [23:36] "I didn't send anyone home! I've been in the cells with the Lieutenant-Physician until just a moment ago! I only just came up here!!" 5 Finally, with some dread, "You didn't send them home, did you? Tell me you asked your Dragonlord for approval, that for once you were stubborn and recalcitrant for a good reason? They can't go home, we have to recover them, stop them all from leaving! [23:36] We have to stop them!" 15[23:38] The guard: "...I haven't seen the Dragonlord, sir. You convinced the shift commander everything was fine. What happened?" [23:39] 14While Keldar and the Overfactor settle terms, Stranger refills his tea and considers what he's seen from Syndic. Or more precisely, what he hasn't seen. [23:40] "I didn't speak to the shift commander. Who spoke to the shift commander? Was he dressed like me? Where is the shift commander? Have they all left?" 15[23:40] The Overfactor: "Simply that if we commit to keeping our property in Nexus and assisting earnestly in the war effort, you will commit to honoring our rights to that property, and defending those rights against future challenge." [23:41] 5 Xu Sim shakes his head. "Nevermind. Take me to the shift commander right now. We have to find the imposter, the saboteur, the illusion, whatever it is. And nobody else can leave!" [23:41] 14Movement. Casual shifting in his seat. Twitches elsewhere from his eyes. The man is paralyzed; he can't move...conventionally. But it would be a mistake to think him harmless. One does not remain a factor in the Guild if one is harmless. 15[23:41] The Overfactor: "Not indefinitely, but until we reach a common consensus that the battle is won and the city is stable." [23:42] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "That sounds like guard work - which I'm good for in general, but I'm gonna be real busy over the next six weeks, as you might imagine." 15[23:43] The guard takes Xu Sim out of the debt. Sick people are thronging the little paths between the tents, walking and running and staggering to freedom. There's a knot of them blocked up at the gate, not because the guards are stopping them but because enough of them have fallen over that the effort to get them back up has halted traffic. [23:43] 14Stranger: "I suspect the Overfactor's concerns are more political than physical." 15[23:43] Xu Sim finds the shift commander at the heart of the quarantine zone, seated high with a view over the whole area, deep in conversation with Xu Sim. [23:45] 5 The real doctor doesn't say anything as he approaches the pair. In fact, he rather shirks away to the side, especially if Xu Sim doesn't notice Xu Sim. 15[23:47] The Overfactor: "It's true. You are not a simple mercenary, Keldar. You are a leader. You will only become moreso as the war drags on. Just as surely as you are not asking me to buy and sell iron personally, it is not your iron I would seek to protect us." Another sip of tea. "Unless of course it transpires that no one else's will do. But this is an arrangement between organizations as much as between you and I." 15[23:48] Xu Sim doesn't seem to notice Xu Sim. The guard: "Commander!" 15[23:48] The commander: "Sergeant?" 15[23:48] The guard: "..." 15[23:48] The commander: "..." 15[23:48] The guard: "..." 15[23:48] The commander: "Out with it, man!" 15[23:48] The guard: "...Xu Sim told me to reverse the order to lift the quarantine." 15[23:49] 10Xu Sim: "I did what?" 15[23:49] Here the guard reaches about, helpless. What says Xu Sim? [23:49] 14Truly, the commedia dell'arte. [23:49] 5 Xu Sim: "Do not lift the quarantine. I've only just synthesized the cure, and need to produce and distribute it. This is an imposter, though a convincing one." [23:51] "Immediately stop emptying the camp! Sound the alarm! And arrest this creature," 5 he adds for good measure. 15[23:51] The commander reaches for her daiklave. "What in the world...?!" 15[23:52] 10Xu Sim shakes his head, and says gravely, "Ah yes, I feared this would happen. My own infection has reached the fullness of its power, and now seeks to impersonate me. Fiend! Destroy this miscreant at once!" [23:53] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar thinks, then turns to Stranger. "If the Guild keeps its stuff in Nexus and assists the city against the Raksha, we can see that they enjoy full protection of the Dogmas 'til the fight with the raksha is settled one way or another. We keep the peace and we, I dunno, at least support the council in arranging for restitution or whatever in case things go sour between them and [23:53] <@Ferrinus> some other party. That sound reasonable to you or am I leaving something out?" [23:53] "How dare you, you glorified lump of wax and sugar," 5 exclaims Xu Sim to his doppelganger. To the captain: "You can choose between us at your leisure, but immediately stop emptying the camp, it's an obvious ploy to spread the honey-maze." 15[23:54] 10Xu Sim: "On the contrary, if this rude homunculous has his way, he'll be able to kill every sick man, woman, and child in the quarantine at a stroke. You must stop him!" [23:54] 14Stranger: "The agreement should be sworn to Guild holdings as they are right now. Should they increase their holdings by...various means...then perhaps that is perfectly legitimate commerce. But it should not be covered under this agreement, as the implications cannot be foreseen." [23:56] "You can examine the woman I've already cured - a woman that this pathetic simulacrum had given leave to return home, entirely prematurely and without medical explanation!" 15[23:57] 10Xu Sim waves airily. "This unconvincing fake is attempting to impress you with my own extensive vocabulary. I explained what I did at length, commander, and you were satisfied." [23:57] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "What, like if they make five drachma profit it's legal to steal those five? Everyone gets the Dogmas whoever they are, that's the point." 15[23:57] The commander: "I was... it was all a bit technical, though, wasn't it?" [23:57] 14Stranger: "Like if they buy your company out from under you." 15[23:57] 10Xu Sim: "Of course! Not just anyone could have cured the honey plague! Only I, the great Xu Sim, can have achieved such a feat!" [23:58] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar waves a hand. "They could do that anyway, if we were sellin'. The important thing is their capital stays in and protects this city rather than abandons it." [23:58] "Which is precisely why _you_ achieved no such thing, you arrogant lump of insect food, dancing for Raksha masters!" [23:58] 14He sighs, closes his eyes, and re-opens them. "You asked for my input. You have it." [23:59] "Commander, you must remand your order and give me a chance to prove myself. Don't believe a word of this charlatan." 15[00:00] 10Xu Sim yawns theatrically. "If you wish, I will assist you and the guards in crushing this spawn of chaos! No petty cataphract such as this can hope to match my Seven Petal Orchid style!" [00:01] "Seven Petal Orchid style?! Now you're completely ruined, everyone knows I am a practitioner of the Crane Style! Submit to the Captain and let your last moments be peaceful." 15[00:02] 10Xu Sim: "Aha! You see! He called you captain, commander. Eviscerate this fraud at once!" 15[00:03] The commander: "Fuck this. You two come with me. You can answer to the Dragonlord." 15[00:03] 10Xu Sim: "As you wish." [00:04] "You can at least countermand the order, Commander, and reinstate it if I'm proven wrong," 5 Xu Sim tries to conceal his fear at being presented to the Dragonlord with Keldar not even in earshot. 15[00:04] Commander: "In the meantime we hold the gate. But I'm not sending anyone out after the people who already got out. I need all hands if we have to exterminate two Anathema." [00:04] "You'll only need to destroy the one, on that you have my word." 15[00:05] 10Xu Sim: "And there can be no doubt who it is." [00:06] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar taps a finger on the table as he finishes the last of his squid. To the Overfactor: "Give us a minute to talk this through. Don't wanna promise something I can't deliver." 12He motions Stranger over and away from the table. [00:06] 5 Xu Sim resigns, stoically, to being taken to Nessun Dorma for the second time today. 15[00:06] The Overfactor raises his teacup to them both, and pours himself another. His grip is shaky. [00:07] 14Stranger refills his cup, bows his head to Syndic and the Overfactor, and follows Keldar to an unoverheard corner. [00:07] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar, his voice lowered: "This is basically what I want, in theory. Guild stays and helps us out, and the Dogmas are upheld - business as usual. You with me on this?" [00:08] 14Stranger: "I am satisfied with the outcome. I am not happy with the cost. You are agreeing to become the Guild's dog. That will be your role: a hound they deploy against slights on their property. From slaves to whores to contract killers. You should be more concerned with the terms of the arrangement." 15[00:09] The commander leads Xu Sim and Xu Sim into the command compound set up in the Embassy. The people who aren't trying to leave or being held back all turn and stare at the three of them. A couple of them follow, as if waiting to see what bizarre trick that crafty old Xu Sim is pulling off this time. [00:09] "This is why I proposed we freeze the agreement on properties they possess now. So they can't go and buy out the Dawn Guard and ask you to off Pellicia." 15[00:11] The two Xus Sim find Nessun Dorma much as one of them left him, his back to the door, massive frame obscuring the window he stands in front of, head bent. "What is it now." 15[00:11] Commander: "My lord. There is a matter that demands your immediate attention." [00:12] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "They couldn't do that anyway. I'm offering to enforce the Dogmas, not join the org. Free trade, no wanton violence, the big six. What worries me is actually the heat of the fighting itself. When the metal hits the meat, I don't want to be stuck tactically - you know, being obliged to fortify their districts before others or make dumb choices as to what to sacrifice first." 15[00:12] Dorma: "SUCH AS?!" [00:12] 14Stranger: "Free trade is wanton violence." 15[00:12] Commander: "..." 15[00:12] "...14sir if you could just turn around" [00:13] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Be serious. What I'm saying is I might want some sort of... buyout clause or something. You know, I'm no more on the hook for one of their warehouses as anyone else's and worst case I end up owing them whatever the iron coulda sold for on average." [00:13] 14Stranger: "My view, as someone versed in the swearing of magical oaths, is that you are highly underestimating what a dedicated oathmaker can wring out of someone who enters into a sealed agreement unawares." [00:14] "They're purchasing the services of a Chosen of the Sun. Services which are magically compelled. You're a fool if you think they won't use you to your greatest effect." [00:14] 5 Xu Sim is grimacing, apologetically, when the dragonlord turns around. "I apologize for the imposition, Dragonlord, but-" 5 He knows himself well enough to expect an interruption at that exact moment. [00:14] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "You think this gets magically compelled?" [00:15] "I was going to offer to do it myself, before the Overfactor began dictating terms. Yes. I think you will be magically compelled." 15[00:15] 10Xu Sim: "-if you'll forgive the absurdity of the present situation--" 15[00:15] Dorma: "Oh for fuck's sake." 15[00:16] "You have five seconds each to explain why I shouldn't kill you both." [00:18] 5 Xu Sim points to the other, offering him the chance to go first, and then to himself, his words cascading over each other rapidly: "I've cured the honey-maze and this one's trying to sabotage it by releasing the patients prematurely." [00:18] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "...probably a good idea, honestly, if only to make sure they don't cut and run halfway through anyway. Could be I can get him to accept a general promise on my part to enforce the Dogmas and protect Nexus as it was, one that doesn't entail some kind of special attention paid to Guild warehouses. The thing is, even if I agree to that... where does that leave me with the [00:18] <@Ferrinus> rest of you? With you specifically?" [00:18] "And you didn't kill Keldar." 15[00:19] 10Xu Sim: "It is I who have cured the honey-maze and this one is trying to keep its victims in quarantine to enact his dark business. Please. I came and left your office this very day seeking contrition. Remember the wagon? Remember the music?" [00:20] 14Stranger: "Oh, I hate the Guild. But I'm willing to work with them, if only to undermine them in completely legitimate ways. Xia Lan, Dawn, Bastian -- there are no other actual fans of the Guild in our ranks. Xu Sim might be your staunchest ally, because I don't think he has an opinion either way. However, we're in a bind, and we need help. And we can always deal with them after [00:20] your deal expires." 15[00:22] Someone with an eye on the cafe might see the Overfactor reach out and delicately wipe a trickle of drool from the corner of Syndic's mouth. [00:22] 14Mmm. [00:23] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar nods, thinks a little longer, and then returns to the Overfactor's table. He sits back down. "It's like this. I want the Guild to stay in the city, I want its backing, and I want the Dogmas to be enforced. In other words, I want the city to keep working as it did. But it's tricky to promise to pay special attention to the Guild's own holdings - that could warp my plans over [00:23] <@Ferrinus> the next few weeks. Even my actual strategy, come the battle." [00:24] "Dragonlord, that was way more than five seconds. He might have observed us this morning from afar, heard the music from a distance." 15[00:24] The Overfactor: "I'm not concerned with the damage the raksha might do. I expect them to be quite indiscriminate." [00:24] 14Nexus is never going back to the way it was. But that's not really a conversation for right now. 15[00:24] "Your friends from Highland? Your foes from Thorns? What of them?" [00:25] 14Stranger refills his teacup. 15[00:25] "Or your own circle?" 15[00:26] Nessun Dorma: "It was more than five seconds. But I won't kill a man on a technicality. I'll kill him because he deserves it. Neither of you told me why you don't deserve it." [00:26] 14Stranger: "The circle will respect Keldar's decision." [00:26] "But we will not swear by it." [00:26] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Pretty sure Highland just wants to add Nexus to his empire. Thorns I actually figure is trustworthy for the purposes of the next two months, though not the next seven or fifteen. Rest of my Circle doesn't like you much." [00:26] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "'swhy I'm counting on you to prove to them that this is a good idea. That you're better to have around than not." [00:26] 14In an exaggerated whisper: "It's all the slaving." 15[00:30] "Slavery is illegal in Nexus," says the Overfactor mildly. "But I take your point. We, too, have a certain reputation. But my proposal is this: that you swear to uphold the Dogmas, to protect the Nexus you know, and to ensure that no one uses cover of war to enact vendetta or undermine our position in the city. You need respect our rights no more than you already do as a private citizen, unless others act in a way that the Emissary, were he himself, would prevent himself." [00:31] 14Stranger pauses. "Wait." [00:31] "No." [00:31] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "And you, in turn, pr- eh?" [00:32] "Keldar, make no agreement that could obligate you to stand against the Emissary as he is." [00:32] 14To the Overfactor: "Which, of course, your distinction about the Emissary's behavior makes entirely possible." [00:33] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Fair point. It's entirely possible that I - in fact, that no one - can actually stop the Emissary if he gets it in his head to, say, take vengeance on Brueghel by melting the lot of you." [00:33] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "On the other hand that's a good argument for the Guild pulling out exactly as it intends." 15[00:33] The Overfactor: "It is a contingency we would be remiss to ignore." 15[00:33] "Well put, Keldar." 15[00:33] "But think of it like this:" [00:34] 14Stranger is disciplined enough not to roll his eyes, or grab Keldar by the shoulders and start shaking. 15[00:34] "If the Emissary is so far gone as to seek to destroy Nexus as it is, and you believe in your heart that it must survive... would you not oppose him anyway?" 15[00:34] "Is such conflict not inevitable?" [00:34] 14Stranger: "If it is, then it need not be compelled by oath." 15[00:35] "It need not. But I like to be sure." [00:35] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "I suppose it is. But I'm not omnipotent. I'm confident that we can stop the Raksha, but I can't actually promise that I can hold off any conceivable calamity. Just that I'd try until it becomes apparent I'm kidding myself." [00:35] "Because you promised not to, earlier today, when Keldar made his abject apologies to you? Because I can help cure the plague and rescue the city. Because I have a lead on King Novak's real murderer - one of his neokorboroi demons tried to attack someone out in the Harlotry, and I've questioned it. Because I can do more good in the world than bad. Unlike the imposter, who spreads lies [00:35] and disease." 5 Xu Sim stammers for more reasons he should live. [00:35] "Because my dog would go hungry," 5 he suggests. 15[00:36] The Overfactor: "How about this: you may exempt yourself from any challenge you would admit yourself unequal to." [00:36] 14Stranger wants to scream. 15[00:36] "I do not wish to see you come to harm. You are a fitting champion for the city." [00:38] 14No shit. [00:39] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar taps the table a few times. "Fair way to put it. So - I commit to enforcing the Dogmas as the Emissary once would have and protect the Nexus I know insofar as I can, and you promise to keep your holdings in the city and contribute to its defense? All this until the attack of the Raksha is settled, one way or another." 15[00:40] The Overfactor: "Insofar as you can guarantee that our holdings will not come to special harm from your peers and your lessers, but not your betters. Yes." [00:40] 14Stranger: "At the very least let's please make the termination clause a bit more specific." [00:40] 5 Xu Sim is actually on the verge of blubbering once he gets started on the subject: "She's Twice-Refined Princess. Because I revived her after she choked on a fish head. She's an ugly dog, Dragonlord, and she was hungry and abused before I took her in. They thought she was cursed. But she's just an ugly dog. And she doesn't have anyone else." 15[00:40] The Overfactor looks from Stranger to Keldar. Does Keldar insist on a firm date?" 15[00:41] 10Xu Sim rubs the back of his neck. "You see how pathetic he is? Don't you just want to squish him like a bug?" 15[00:42] Dorma: "Is that all you have to say for yourself, monster?" [00:42] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Cap it at two months, maybe. But we should be clear - if someone wants to screw with you under the auspices of the Dogmas, I can't do anything about that, you realize. Someone shorting you or convincing the Council to ignore you or some such is just how the game's played." [00:42] "It is a little pathetic," 5 he shrugs. 15[00:43] 10Xu Sim: "I won't beg for my life. Not from the likes of you. Kill me or kill him. Kill us both. I'm not going to pretend I can change your mind." 15[00:45] The Overfactor: "It is not economic warfare we fear. We can protect ourselves on that score. If we are attacked through the Dogmas we will seek recourse through the same. You are not our errand-boy, Keldar of Nexus. You are the last line of defense against a world gone mad." 15[00:46] "As long as you see yourself equal to the task." 15[00:46] Nessun Dorma: "Well. I've heard enough." 15[00:47] The great white hammer hurtles with meteroic speed towards Xu Sim's skull! 15[00:47] Which Xu Sim? Find out... next week! [00:47] Oh shit! [00:47] <@Ferrinus> "All right," 12says Keldar. "Deal." 15[00:47] The Overfactor extends his left hand. [00:48] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's got the obvious impulse to lead with his right, but follows suit after realizing the score. [00:48] 14Stranger just watches. 15[00:50] Keldar's heart stops. Just for one beat. His mind thuds with leaden bells, his vision swims with pink mist. It's so nice. It's so comforting... As the black veins run up both their arms, as the Overfactor's head splits open and bleeds, Keldar is left to think: this feels good. Keeping his word feels good. Who could have enough of feeling like this? [00:50] 14... 15[00:51] The moment passes. Keldar snaps out of it, to see the Overfactor gently dabbing at his own brow as Stranger and Syndic look on. [00:51] 14Stranger: "Touching." [00:52] <@Ferrinus> 12The mercenary rubs at his wrist idly. "You should get that looked at." [00:53] 14Stranger: "Is it done?" 15[00:53] The Overfactor: "Yes, thank you. I'll give the order. We'll bring the barges back renegotiate with our defense contractors, and we should be back at full operating capacity within a week." [00:54] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar stands. "Think so. The merc companies you're retaining - we'll need them here. Send their leaders to talk to me soon as possible, 'cause I'm putting training and organization together and I need to know what's available to me. Be damned if Nexus's own forces get shown up by a bunch of corpses or drugged-up golems." [00:55] <@Ferrinus> 12Heck, he might be damned even if they don't! [00:55] 14Stranger: "That's excellent. Keldar, could you give us a moment? I've got a concern to voice and I don't want to trip your oath before the sun gets a chance to set even once." 15[00:55] The Overfactor: "Of course." 15[00:55] The Overfactor pours himself one last cup of tea. [00:55] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's gathering himself up and heading out to continue the day, in fact, unless Keldar needs him around for something after this chat. [00:55] 14Stranger's already got a full cup. [00:55] <@Ferrinus> 12Er, unless Stranger does. [00:56] 14He'll join Keldar outside momentarily. [00:56] 14He won't say anything further until he's alone with Syndic and the Overfactor. 15[00:56] When they are, the Overfactor will wait for Stranger to act first. [00:59] 14Once so: "So you know what I am. You know what he is. I'm not forsworn and I could run circles around your oath if I wanted to, and even if you did successfully call it in you'd likely just lose your new hound-dog. But frankly that sounds like a lot of work, when all I actually want from you people is for you to behave like decent human beings. So I propose a side-pot." 15[00:59] "Propose away." [01:02] "It goes something like this: I don't fuck with you unless you provoke me, and the definition of provocation is a common-sense, mutal understanding definition. I allow you to slave, and whore, and kill-for-hire as the Dogmas permit, and I don't do anything to directly harm you or your interests unless you or your people step to me first. In return, you uphold the deal you just burned [01:02] into Keldar's palm with the good faith of a damn Immaculate saint. You don't undercut him, you don't use him as proxy muscle, you don't steal the company he's worked so hard to make out from under him. You treat with him like you're a goddamn decent human being." 15[01:07] The Overfactor considers this quietly for a moment and then nods. "That's very fair of you. And it's no trouble to me. Keldar's value to Nexus is as much what he won't do as what he will." 15[01:08] "Keep him honest, and he'll serve us both well." [01:08] 14Stranger: "Then let's shake on it." 15[01:08] The Overfactor offers Stranger his right hand. [01:10] 14Stranger reaches out, and instead of shaking, intertwines his fingers with the Overfactor's in a strangely familiar fashion. As their palms touch, Stranger's eyes explode from milky-white to burning gold, and a horrible darkness stretches out into the room behind him. The Chosen of the Sun leans forward and smiles. There's light burning out between his gums. [01:10] "Pleasure doing business." 15[01:11] NEXT TIME: Arm and Hammer