Gadiel Halcomb sat at his desk, reading through an endless sea of reports. The teleportation circle between Néa Elpis and Terranburg was almost complete, but Gadiel had to do something with his time while he waited for his aura to recover enough to cast the finishing touches. Officially, Gadiel’s office sat in the Elpisian Embassy on Terranburg soil, but it wasn’t an embassy, not really. Terranburg belonged to Elpis in all but name, and should he choose to use it Gadiel had as much political power here as he did in his own country. All the way back when Terranburg had its first democratic election years ago, Marisol had saturated the candidate pool enough to win the election for Elpis, unknown to the citizens. Years of subtle policy changes and quiet influences on public opinion had shaped the population of Terranburg in the right direction. For years, Elpis publicly showered the city with gifts and favors, helping to improve their lives and make their city stronger. They were enamored with their allies, to the point where they would probably accept them as overlords.
Not that Gadiel planned to abuse this hard-won trust. Only the odd conspiracy theorists still had a reason to doubt Elpis’ benevolence, and it was in Elpis’ direct interest to keep things that way. With Terranburg in the fold, the scattered villages of the dangerous southern plains would start becoming more and more open to the idea of letting themselves be absorbed into the country proper. Frankly, little more than a lack of safe exit strategies tied them to their homes as-is, for the southern plains were ravaged by infertile soil and dangerous beasts.
People of the southern plains had become so terrified of those monsters, they had forgotten to be scared of men. Gadiel hoped, one day, that forgotten fear wouldn’t be as misguided as it was now.
A knock on the door stirred him from his thoughts.
“Enter,” he intoned.
A dark-skinned, dark-haired woman decked out in her usual military garb stiffly entered the room with a salute. The door shut itself behind her.
“Intelligence Chief Marisol reporting, sir.”
“At ease, Marisol,” Gadiel sighed. “It’s just us in here. You don’t have to act.”
“With respect, sir,” Marisol said, dropping her salute, “I do. As much as I fancy myself the playwright, at heart I will always be an actor. We can never be sure what kind of unknown natural magic could be spying on us.”
Gadiel nodded grimly. The last thing he wanted was another Nuxvar Massacre. He doubted he could bear it.
“Well, it’s fortunate that you happen to be the best actor in the world,” Gadiel commented. “With luck, the playwright noticed and cast you as the lead.”
Marisol grimaced.
“Yes, maybe. It’s either that or the villain.”
“Be afraid of that,” Gadiel warned, “but never accept it. If you find yourself willing to live with that title, we lose everything we’ve worked for. Do not put up with ‘good enough.’”
“You’re right, of course,” Marisol said with a sigh, “I’ll need you more than ever for that, since I’d like to start a conversation about necessary evils.”
Gadiel figured as much. He could tell a lot about how a conversation would go by how Marisol chose to enter the room, and “Intelligence Chief Marisol reporting” was usually the worst one.
“Alright. Let’s start with updates, if you please,” Gadiel began. “What’s the status on the Titan of Life?”
“As you know, I can’t get close to him, but I’m currently tracking him through the Oinos mountain range. He’s been sent on a wild goose chase after what is probably the only thing that could actually kill him. With luck, they’ll delete each other.”
“Without luck?”
“I just sent Aelius to find Neoma. The worst case is probably some sort of extinction event. I’m doing my best.”
“Right…” Gadiel said, rubbing his temples. “So, Hydronia and Sentonis?”
“On the brink of war,” Marisol reported. “Hydronia’s already at war with the chondricthians in their waters so they’ll almost certainly lose if they don’t get any support.”
“Worst case scenario?”
“Sentonis curbstomps them before we can influence the outcome and becomes a hegemony. This is a real threat; they’re undoubtedly a superior military force. I’ve been delaying them by gumming up their political system but the king will only tolerate forced incompetence for so long. He doesn’t actually need parliamentary approval to start the war. Or do much of anything, frankly. Their legislature is a nightmare.”
“Best-case scenario?” Gadiel prompted.
“The war ends with a barely victorious Hydronia and crippled infrastructure on both sides, at which point we, well, do our thing. I should be able to set this up if we can get all the pieces in play quickly enough.”
Hence the teleportation circle. It’s true that Elpis wanted to land an army on Terranburg’s doorstep, but it wasn’t actually to conquer Terranburg. With the exception of a thin band at the base of the Oinos mountains, the monsters of the southern plains were among the most vicious on the continent. They’d even attack a marching army, and sending said army across an entire continent would be difficult enough without constant environmental casualties. Being able to skip the plains entirely when mobilizing troops would be revolutionary.
“So, onto more recent events,” Gadiel prompted. “Oinos Springs. I didn’t expect to see you back so soon.”
“Well, teleportation allows one to move very fast,” Marisol responded flatly.
“Quite,” Gadiel dryly acknowledged, “but I meant that I expected there to be more for you to do. I’ve only just started reading your report, but it seems you think the situation there is already in hand?”
“Indeed,” Marisol confirmed. “The Cornwall’s heir seems genuinely ignorant, beyond our wildest hopes and dreams. With Gregory dead, establishing ourselves there will be an amusing pastime at worst. That’s not the important part of my visit, however. I met the Aletheian there.”
Gadiel’s eyebrows raised in surprise.
“You mean, in an official capacity?” he asked. “That is… most surprising. Why would she take the Oinos Springs exit? How did she take the Oinos Springs exit?”
“I have no idea why. She could have been hunting, she could have had foreknowledge of my presence there, she could have gotten lost. As for how… I have many reasons to believe she actually killed the vrochthízo lord Tarthanara, and nearly her entire brood. Somehow.”
That was a mind-boggling feat. The “invincible” Tarthanara had plagued Dynamo and the northern plains for decades, shrugging off armies’ worth of physical and magical attacks like they were soft cuddles. What kind of monstrous strength did this Aletheian really have?
“But that’s not even the most interesting part,” Marisol continued. “It also seems like the girl– whose name is Shara, by the way– can’t actually read my mind.”
“What?” Gadiel exclaimed. “Isn’t that the whole reason we’re–”
“It’s a little muddier than that,” Marisol clarified, cutting him off. “I’m still certain she can read minds, in general. But she’s either the most skilled liar and manipulator on the planet or she’s incapable of reading my mind directly. And possibly some other people’s minds as well, I’m not sure.”
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“...And to be the most skilled manipulator on the planet, she’d have to take that title from you.” Gadiel said thoughtfully. “I’m willing to play those odds.”
“Now is probably not the time for flattery,” Marisol shot back, with a barely perceptible grin.
“Mmn. So the question is, ‘why?’ Her father clearly had no trouble reading you, which got us into this mess in the first place. If her power is different, she might cease to be a threat.”
“It might be different,” Marisol conceded, “but it might also just be underdeveloped. We can’t risk the integrity of the plan over that maybe. Our priority should still be to kill her.”
“So, why didn’t you? You met her in person, did you not?”
“Are you crazy?” Marisol countered incredulously. “That girl got trapped underground by one of the most skilled geomancers I know and as best I can tell she just punched her way out. Just… punched! With her fists! Through solid rock! If I pooled every resource I had in the entire area she would have still reduced it all to a fine red mist. And that’s before accounting for the overpowered teen squad and goddamn nascent titan that’s following her around. I only take calculated risks, Gadiel, and as you know I am very good at math.”
That was troubling. He skimmed through the report on his desk, trying to get a better understanding of the situation.
“Yet it says here you… deliberately antagonized her in an attempt to provoke an attack?”
“Oh, that,” Marisol said, depositing herself into a nearby chair with a huff. “Part of that was me controlling the timing of a strong emotional reaction. Testing my mind reading theory, naturally. Unless it’s just part of her persona she seems to have a more difficult time controlling rage than other emotions, so I said some things to get her angry to see if she got angry before I said them, and she did not. The emotional response was pretty direct. But also…” Marisol trailed off with a grimace.
“But also what?” Gadiel prompted.
Marisol shifted her weight in the chair, placing an elbow on the armrest and her head in her palm.
“Well, telling you this will end up making your job much harder,” Marisol hummed, “So I’m considering whether or not I should.”
“I suppose I shouldn’t bother ordering you to do so,” Gadiel responded with a smile, “since you’ve already broken character.”
Marisol looked down at her own posture.
“So I have. I guess you’ve always been a weakness of mine.”
An ember of something lost flickered between them, but they returned to business.
“I would, of course, like to know,” Gadiel said softly, “Even if it would make things more challenging.”
“Well, I was also testing her character,” Marisol informed him with a sigh, “and Shara Aletheia, so far as I can tell, is an incredibly kind human being. She has that spark of battle-lust the other Aletheians did, but she doesn’t let it rule her. I suspect it’s the influence of her adoptive family, who are just darling. I got that girl as frustrated as I could realistically manage and she did not so much as threaten me. Unless I attack her first I doubt she would ever go further. She also spent extra time in Oinos Springs assisting one of the most tragically doomed individuals I have ever encountered, and might even succeed in helping them should we give her the time. She is, by all accounts, a model citizen. Intelligent, kind, hard-working, thoughtful. Morally focused. Precisely the kind of person I adore, the kind of person we wish to encourage above all others. If the entire world were filled with people like Shara, our work would be done. And yet…”
“And yet you still think she needs to die,” Gadiel finished.
“I don’t know of a realistic way around it,” Marisol confirmed sadly. “She’s in the unique position of having the potential to discover the plan, having the motivation to fight it, and having the power to stand a chance. She also seems frighteningly competent at acquiring powerful allies.”
“But we have a new best-case scenario,” Gadiel pressed. “If she could be convinced to join us, it sounds like we would gain a lot.”
“Oh, excessively so,” Marisol agreed. “I can hardly imagine how useful a mind-reader would be to us, let alone one of her incredible character. Unfortunately, I fear we may have burned that bridge when we burned her entire village to the ground. Even if she were to look past that– which is admittedly reasonable, given her personality– I think she values the truth too highly to accept the foundational lie we want to build the world upon.”
“It is almost as if any intelligent or well-read individual should be wary of such an oft-warned tactic for forming an ideal society,” Gadiel pointed out with a light touch of sarcasm.
“Yes, well,” Marisol said with a grin, “fiction writers tend to get a little heavy-handed with their moral warnings. I think we have taken those lessons into account. Besides, actually ruling over a brainwashed populous would be dreadful. I like people far too much for that.”
“Yet, in the end, you still want to kill her,” Gadiel said.
“Of course I don’t want to kill her,” Marisol snapped. “Frankly, I’m growing to rather like her. But yes, I feel as though it is needed.”
“So, when should I move out?” Gadiel regretfully asked.
Marisol shrugged.
“Hopefully never. I know this is far from your favorite part of the job, and I don’t want you near the girl besides. Best I can tell, she doesn’t actually know my abilities yet, and even with your impressive mental self-control I don’t want to risk that slipping. Instead, I’ve sent her to Yidril.”
“Yidril? Why would she go there?”
“Because she’s hungry, and I left a trail of breadcrumbs. I’m confident enough in my read on her personality to think I’ve pushed the right buttons. And if the things I have there can’t kill her, well… she’ll shoot up the threat assessment list, I suppose.”
Gadiel rubbed his chin thoughtfully. What he was about to say would be a hard sell, but that was perhaps why he needed to say it.
“Marisol… I’d like you to try recruiting the Aletheian girl. I think that should be our plan A.”
“Why?” Marisol asked. “There’s almost no chance it will work, and it could reveal secrets to her she doesn’t already know. I don’t see a realistic payoff.”
“There are some cases where that becomes irrelevant,” Gadiel claimed. “I think this is one of them. Don’t forget that the reason we’re doing this is to make the world a better place. A place where kind, intelligent people like you claim this girl to be can thrive and live in happiness. There are sacrifices we make for that, but you can’t let those sacrifices be a tool you pull out whenever it’s convenient. They are a last resort, and that means you attempt every other option first. Only then are you justified to continue, and that justification is important as more than an intangible thing. You cannot foster and rule a culture of goodness if you yourself are evil.”
Marisol sat thoughtfully, staring at the old man’s wrinkled, smiling face.
“Besides,” Gadiel added, “I’m sure the most skilled manipulator on the planet can think of something, if she puts her mind to it.”
Marisol couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I suppose now is the time for flattery,” she admitted. “All right, fine. I’m not sure if I can manage anything, and I will still take any opportunities I see to eliminate her. But since she seems disinclined to leave many of those anyway... I’ll try. It will be plan A.” She smiled. “This is why I don’t want to tell you these things.”
“Have you considered the possibility,” Gadiel said, “that not wanting to tell me something may be a sign that you know it is wrong?”
Marisol sighed, sinking into her seat.
“I suppose it usually is. I’m so impossibly lucky to have you, Gadiel. I wish we were still… you know. Together.”
Gadiel returned her sigh softly.
“I know. But I’ve told you why that won’t be happening.” Silence weighed the room between them.
“Besides, can you imagine the scandal?” Gadiel added, breaking the quiet with a wry grin. “A man of my position, with a younger woman? And his subordinate, no less!”
Marisol bust out laughing.
“I could have made you look twenty again if you wanted, you old coot!” she managed to choke out.
“Yes, well, when a man reaches two-hundred I think he’s earned the right to look a bit old. All the more reason you should seek this ‘Shara’ out for our side. Another strong-willed person in the know would do you good, and I won’t be around forever.”
Marisol’s laughing abruptly stopped.
“Yes, you will,” she said quietly. “I will never let you die. I swear it.”
“Life is not so easy and predictable, Marisol,” Gadiel responded sagely. “When the time comes, you might not be able to stop it.”
“Maybe,” Marisol conceded, standing up with the careful slowness of someone who has the weight of the world on their shoulders.
“But one day,” she promised, “I will be.”
Marisol gave a stiff salute, snapping back into her professional persona and exiting the room, leaving Gadiel to his stack of papers.
“Always has to have the last word,” Gadiel muttered to himself with a smile. She was such a remarkable woman. Even with their struggles, Gadiel could not be more blessed.
But now wasn’t the time for flattery. It was time for work. If the Aletheian girl survived getting impaled through the head, than maybe, just maybe, she could survive Yidril too.
Despite himself, Gadiel hoped she would.