At last, Professor Seneca and Professor Torres finally arrived with Jei. Seneca looked at Mirian standing over Agent Idras with the arming sword and said, “So you did kill that man on purpose.”

“Unfortunately. It changes the path the timeline takes dramatically. Respected Jei, how much did you tell them?”

Jei looked at Torres, then back to Mirian. “That the man tried to kill me. That I believe you. Not much.”

“Where did you find Seneca and Torres? So you can find them faster next time.”

“Seneca was in her office. Torres was… I think you know.”

“The King of the Grill. West-most table on the patio, sitting alone. The food was extra spicy.”

Jei nodded. Torres kept her face as blank as she could, but Mirian was getting to know her well enough to know she was disconcerted.

“I have a lot to tell you,” she said. “What’s different this time is he’s alive.” She gestured at the Akanan. Mirian had decided to tell everyone but Jei that it was the Akanan invasion triggering the Divine Monument that had sent her back. She went through the rest of the information as best she could: the corruption of the Captain, the death of Adria Gavell in the catacombs, and the planned invasion. She also made sure to mention that any spies that got captured were poisoned to death, which made Idras uncomfortable.

Throughout it all, she made sure to note specific things she shouldn’t otherwise know. Things like that Torres had been hit by a sword twice, that she possessed an ancient spellrod, and the names of her contacts in the various military branches. That Seneca had dated Bertrus, and that she was working on an alchemical concoction to run one of the spell engines studying the Divine Monument. When she threw the translation of the first spy’s scroll on the table, that made Idras blanch.

As usual, there was this annoying silence around the room as everyone pondered what to say.

Torres went with, “The most logical alternative explanation is that you’re a third party agent,” which led to Mirian tossing down another piece of paper that had that phrase already written on it.

Jei said a bunch of things in Gulwenen to Torres, with “Iliyia” being the only word Mirian could pick up on.

Torres finally said, “So what did you do… last time?”

“Got Cassius, went to the catacombs, and killed a bog lion before retrieving Praetorian Gavell’s corpse. However, we need to do it slightly differently, because last time Idras here was dead, and both Mayor Wolden, Gavell’s impostor, and Captain Mandez escape. There’s more Akanan spies in Torrviol, and they lead to us losing the Bainrose, and therefore losing the battle.”

Seneca frowned. “Iliyia, you believe all this?”

Torres said, “Song makes a convincing case. As far as I know, the only person who was working on conduit bleed-over spell resonance is… me.” When Senca gave her a blank look, Torres said, “The two-spells-at-once thingy,”

Seneca went “Ah!” It was sort of funny that Seneca had encyclopedic knowledge of alchemistry, but didn’t care much for artifice, even though it was apparently her contributions that were critical to some of the projects.

“Can you demonstrate, Mirian?”

“Sure, get a grounding spell ready.”

As the faint hints of a shield appeared around the spellrod as she channeled lightning, Torres asked, “How did you get crystal conduits small enough to miniaturize it?”

Mirian nodded at Jei.

Torres seemed to accept that. Seneca said, “So… now what?”

“You have contacts within the guard. We need to get Captain Mandez arrested and figure out what he knows. We need to have a way to stop the mayor from fleeing so we can figure out what he knows.”

“That’s a tall order,” Seneca said. “The mayor and the captain of the guard? What’s your evidence?”

“The corpse of Adria Gavell. Which we’re going to go get after we get guards like Bertrus to help get the captain arrested. And we do need to clear out all the spies and corrupt officials. As far as I can tell, those will be the changes that tip the battle, because otherwise the Akanan army knows too much for the attack to be stopped.”

“Then why are you saying this in front of him?” Torres said, gesturing to Idras.

“Because as I said before—Akana Praediar also loses this war. If we work together, we both benefit.”

“I don’t think it’s going to work,” Torres said.

Mirian shrugged. “If it doesn’t, I’ll just try again.” She looked at Idras. The spy stayed silent. He was grinding his teeth, though, which had to count for something.

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***

This time, when they emerged from the catacombs with the two bodies, Idras in tow, Seneca had convinced Bertrus that Captain Mandez needed to join them, and then they needed to watch him closely. That was the best she thought they could do, since she didn’t have much information that might convince the guards specifically, especially this early in the loop. Captain Mandez kept his face blank when he saw the strange array of corpses and prisoners arrayed in the plaza, but that didn’t surprise Mirian.

“Tell him what I told you,” she insisted as Idras was led away by the guards. “This doesn’t have to end in ruin.”

“Do you think it will work?” Jei asked, as the guards continued away and the crowd continued to grow.

“It’s worth a try. We need to talk to the Magistrate next. Assuming its not too late.” She glanced southward. Still no smoke yet. So what was it that triggered the spies to burn the headquarters?

Mirian had found people took you much more seriously when you said something outrageous and had the backing of three Academy professors. Before the breakthrough, going to the magistrate’s office got a secretary to roll his eyes at her. Now, after requesting a meeting, the secretary said, “Well, yes, I think she is in… let me see if she’s available.”

“Make sure you get the name of the skeleton we found right. Adria Gavell!” Mirian called after her.

Soon enough, Magistrate Ada was walking beside them, wide-eyed, reading then re-reading the tattered note they’d found by the corpse. When Ada broke through the crowd to get a look at the body and the armor it was wearing, her face went even whiter.

“I have reason to believe Captain Mandez is part of the group responsible, and has been covering up the Academy break-ins,” Mirian said. “Perhaps your office can investigate.”

Magistrate Ada looked at Mirian again, then back at the corpse. “How is it you came to possess this information?” she asked.

Here we go again, Mirian thought.

***

By the end of the day, Mirian listened to the conversations on the street, then talked with Jei and Torres and was able to get a decent idea of what had happened after her conversation with Ada.

Captain Mandez had tried to make a run for it like she predicted, setting a safe in his office on fire and then attempting a stealthy escape by boat. Only, the other guards were on the lookout for it, and running for it was the worst thing he could have done. Before, there had been doubts as to his status. Running eliminated them. The contents of the safe were incinerated, but the man himself was sitting in a special cell in the Magistrate’s Building.

Mayor Wolden had seen the guards standing outside his manor ‘for his protection,’ and apparently decided to stick around this time. He’d made a blustery speech about rooting out corruption, only to be heckled about the state of Torrviol, with the bog lion corpse in the plaza a dramatic illustration of the point. Rumor was now spreading that he had a special stash of Florinian ingots hidden in his house. Mirian wondered if that was the case; if so, it would make him absurdly wealthy.

It only took a little longer for the demands for a plebiscite to make their way around town. Soon enough, crowds were forming in the forum and the plaza.

Adria Gavell’s impostor was nowhere to be found.

Again, the guards closed ranks and pointed to Captain Mandez as the source of the corruption; they’d all just been following orders. Mirian still didn’t believe it, but with huge crowds roaming the streets, their allegiance to self-preservation had them opposing the little conspiracy, and that was what Mirian needed most.

The spy headquarters was also, so far, unburned.

That evening at the dining hall, there was the agony of needing to explain everything to Lily again. This time, there was no Valen nearby. Mirian wondered what small change had caused that.

Lily did her best. When Mirian explained it right, she was more sympathetic, but she hated having to explain herself just to get that sympathy. It was never extended automatically. There was a certain exhaustion to needing to labor so hard just to have someone to understand her, and that understanding was always incomplete.

More, there was a dread creeping up on her, because she knew that isolation from normal life was only going to get worse. Right now, she could see it manifesting in her own levity in speaking to people. A year ago, she hadn’t even liked raising her hand in most of her classes. Now, she had no problem lecturing her own professors.

What she wanted to do was go for a nice run, but with the Impostor still at large and things not at all settled, she knew it was a bad idea. Instead, she found herself heading two dormitories over and knocking on a door she’d never knocked on before.

“What are you doing here?” Valen asked when she answered the door. She was already in her nightclothes, though she quickly cleared her surprise off her face.

Mirian couldn’t help but look behind her. Her room was full of clutter, the papers on the desk in such a mess Mirian had to resist the urge to burst in and start cleaning. This was contrasted with the second half of the room, which was mostly empty. The second bed in her room was made up perfectly and untouched. Her memory was hazy, but she’d thought Valen had a roommate. Apparently not. “I need your expertise,” she said.

Valen scowled. “Sorry, I don’t take charity cases.”

Mirian ignored the casual insult. “I want you to run a spy network.”

The other girl opened her mouth, then closed it. “What?” she said.

“Your dad was part of the Deeps. You know spycraft. I can only be in one place at once, and going forward, when I’m around, everyone is going to be watching.” Mirian didn’t explain beyond that. She knew Valen had already been keeping her finger on the pulse of events.

“Why would I do that?” she asked.

“Because you want to. I think we can work out a… reward system,” Mirian said, and gave her a wink.

About a hundred emotions played across Valen’s face in quick succession. “Since when did you… well I guess it must be true. Damn, you’re evil, you know that? Alright.”

“Good!” Mirian said, and then they started hammering out the details. She explained about the headquarters, how to decode the Akanan ciphers, the spies being poisoned, and the mysterious second cell. It was that second cell she wanted her to start looking into. It wouldn’t be a real spy network, of course. Even with her free loan money, Mirian didn’t have the kind of funds to pay salaries. But it would take advantage of the myriad of social connections Valen had. She’d learn that much more this cycle.

When she left, Mirian was feeling quite pleased with herself. As she walked back to her dorm, though, she saw the orange flicker of light on the low-hanging clouds above Torrviol. Then she smelled smoke, faintly, on the wind.

She’d been too slow to move, she realized. The spy headquarters building was burning again.