I think I am here.

Nekri opened his mouth, ready to explain, then snapped it shut again. He narrowed his eyes at the woman. “You sure ask a lot of questions, don’t you?” He tilted his head and changed his appearance to match hers as well. “Most people run when they see a situation way above their scope.”

Nekri cocked his head to the side. “Maybe. But in my book, when you see an opportunity...” He nodded to the top hat man and the unconscious woman, still on the horse. “...you take it. I think that’s something you can understand?”

“You can try,” Nekri said, mainly because he wanted to see how the man protecting her would react. Something about the way the woman had collapsed made it seem like it was something beyond a simple black out. He turned to the woman and raised an eyebrow. “A bounty? For whom?” He said back to her derisively, changing his voice to mimic hers exactly. It was always fun to see how people would react to their own voice spoken back to them, especially from a body that didn’t match. “That’s the thing I’m looking for,” he said with a grin, still using her voice. “I’m looking for someone to give me a bounty. So I can do it. And make a little coin.”

Nekri glanced at the new woman and man who’d arrived. They seemed just as curious as Nekri was, which meant they weren’t allies. “Great,” he said to all of them, turning around. “More people. If this pattern continues, we’ll enough people to make a nation-state by the time sleepy-head over there wakes up.” He crossed his arms, trying to - despite the lighthearted tone - weigh up each of the newcomers. Sure he was an illusionist, but it still helped to know the weaknesses of your (potential enemies). Subconsciously he stepped closer to the red-skinned man. If there was anyone who’d be able to help him, it’d be him. He looked back to the new woman. Realising he still looked like Jared, he switched his appearance to something a bit more fitting. Blonde hair, and to be a little interesting he went with green eyes. “I’m over here looking for a bounty,” he told her. “No idea what the rest of you want.”

Nekri nodded at the man with the picture - the man who’s face he still wore - and followed the red-skinned man, passing the side of the tavern and emerging just in time to spot Rose in a horse and the top hat man conversing with a few other people like a child and a woman. “There you are! Nekri said, his arms extended. Finally. They’d caught up. Nekri would have to thank that picture man for suggesting the stables. “We thought you were just about to leave. Is there a bounty or something? Because I’m in!” He pumped a fist in the air. @Shard of Thought @Lecky Twig @Fallapede @AmazingGoob

Run after people on horseback? Nekri shot a side-glance at the red-skinned man. Maybe it was a wild idea, or maybe Nekri had underestimated the man’s physicality. Anyone who felt confident in themselves to chase after a horse had some serious strength and stamina... or a seriously overinflated ego. But the red-skinned man didn’t seem the boastful type. “You have an idea, then?” He asked to the man with the picture, turning to face him. @xinoehp512

Right. Let’s do that, then, Nekri said, downing his fruit juice and running to the front door just in time to spot the top hat man leaving with the girl on horseback. Odd, indeed. He’d thought it was a bounty, but what informant carried their bounty Hunter of the collapsed? And who was the bounty hunter, exactly? The woman? Nekri found that hard to believe, somehow. “Hey!” He called back to the red-skinned man and the man with the picture, changing his voice slightly. Replicating the picture-man’s voice exactly had been tiring, somehow. “You coming?” They needed to follow the top hat man. That meant a horse, somehow. “Any of you got a way we can follow them?” @xinoehp512 @Bearer of all agonies

Nekri laughed at the man’s startled expression. Usually he’d never give up his cover, but messing with random tavern-dwellers was another matter. What would they do, track it back to him? Nekri stood, breathing out and changing his illusion to replicate the image of the man in front of him perfectly. None of your business, he said mockingly to the man, changing his voice to match now that he heard it once. He winked. Some commotion happened behind them and Nekri turned. The young woman was on the floor, there was a fourth associate, a young child, and the top hat man was carrying her out of the tavern. I’m sorry, he said to the man with the picture, still using his voice. But I’ve got better things to do. Bounties to chase. He turned to the red-skinned man who’d already stood up. Hey, fighter-type, he said. If we don’t follow, they’ll be gone forever. Whatd’ya say? @Bearer of all agonies

Nekri shifted his attention from the top hat man and glanced towards the newcomer, looking closely at that picture he had. If he wanted to find a woman, surely there were easier ways than going from tavern to tavern, right? “Never seen her,” he said. Looking up to the newcomer, Nekri cocked his head to one side, tried to read him. Then, he breathed out and changed his disguise, took on the illusion of the woman in the picture perfectly and grinned at the man. “Why’re you looking for her?” He asked playfully, a male voice still coming out of the female illusion. “An ex or something?”

Both good points. “Black market dealers are usually more... secretive,” Nekri responded, watching the two interact. “My money’s on a bounty.” That caught his attention. A bounty would be a good way to make money, if he could intercept it. Someone ( @xinoehp512 ) barged in and demanded to know where the barkeep was, and Nekri just thumbed over his shoulder at a stout man refilling a keg. When he looked back to the top hat man and his associate they were standing up. “They’re about to leave,” he said to the red-skinned man quickly, then slowly stood up himself. If this was a bounty, then he was interested. Another woman joined the too and he resided an eyebrow. “And they have another associate.”

Articulate, too. Nekri was beginning to believe this red-skinned man was more than met the eye. Much more. Some people got angry when Nekri talked to them, caught them staring at others, but this man... he was opening up a conversation. Not wanting to break character, he kept his head low, swirling his glass again. “I wouldn’t know, sir. I just work the mill.” A pause. Nekri raised his head slightly, meeting the man’s eyes which a mischievous grin. He couldn’t resist. “But if I had to guess,” he said, sipping his juice. “It’s something to do with that girl he’s talking to. She doesn’t exactly look tavern-standard either.”

Nekri just happened to be sitting next to the stool the red-skinned man sat at, swirling his fruit juice (which he’d disguised to look like gin) in boredom. The man seemed like one of those fighter-types, though there was no denying a wealthy sort of presence in the way he held himself. Not wanting to be seen staring, he idly took a sip from his glass. That air of wealth, however, couldn’t hold a candle to the man who’d sauntered in here just now with a gold-brimmed top hat. Risky play, that, but any mugger worth their weight in silver knew that a man who showed his wealth so boldly was a man who had ways to defend himself. Powerful ways. So Nekri watched his interactions with a young woman out of the corner of his eye. Nekri had no such fanciful clothing of his own. The character he wore, the skin and face and build of a plain working boy was complex enough. Nekri kept the illusion strong, holding his glass up and inspecting his reflection in the mirror. Those eyes were too light. Better darken them slightly. And those teeth — Nekri altered his illusion slightly, made the teeth just a little uneven. Perfect. He noticed the red-skinned man beside him was watching the top hat guy as well. Observant for a fighter-type. “You know...” Nekri said quietly, glancing towards the man. He changed his voice slightly, too, made it better fit the illusion he wore. He’d never reveal his true voice or face. “I have a feeling that top hat man isn’t exactly here just to drink.” @Bearer of all agonies

Pun! Double pun!

Hi! Could I be added to the PM as well? Thanks!

“‘Irrational’. That’s one way to describe it,” Rob called out to the newcomer, making his way down the stairs. He stopped midway, leaning on the railing to get a better look at the strange armour. After the initial surprise of armour that grew out like an organic thing, Rob’s thoughts drifted to possible weaknesses. It seemed to grow from the guy’s hand. Weak spot? Sighing, he stood up straighter and crossed his arms, steadying his gaze at the new kid, though as always he kept his face completely still. Unreadable. That way no one could find your own weak spots. “You’re lucky no one tried to kill you. A door broken in? I would’ve.” He knew Shana would have as well. He tried to suppress the surprise he felt at her questions of the newcomer. They were direct, but Rob didn’t expect the offering of food. Someone needed to be a bit harsh with this kid. And then there was the other matter. For a moment he found his gaze locked on Cassie instead of the newcomer, studying her. Fifth Ideal, but no spren, right? Storms, looking for weaknesses in his friends was wrong, but Cassie was a witness. Would she consider their friendship when she told Doc what happened, told the rest of the Radiants? Storms. They’d cross/burn/whatever that bridge when they got to it. Rob nodded to himself. That was the way.

Rob took the letter, took his time to read it while Shana grabbed a map. Good thinking. Meanwhile, the seriousness of the situation was getting to him the further he waded into the letter’s contents. The room seemed awfully humid all of a sudden and he could feel his heartbeat pick up. This wasn’t make-believe. They were discovering things hidden for maybe years, hidden other enclaves in the city, maybe comprised of actual adults. Radiant adults, and they were attacking Voidbringers. “They don’t refer to him by name, only as ‘Doctor’,” he said, letting the letter slip from his fingers and glide onto the table again. Sighing, he turned to the letters, glancing back at Shana with the map for a moment before picking up all the envelopes and walking over to her. “I guess they can’t know him that well,” he said. Still, he’d kept the secret. Had he accepted to give some of Radiants, how would he have broken it to them? Suddenly, the next step seemed obvious. It seemed large, and almost intimidating, but it was obvious. They had a group they knew was contributing to the Voidbringer problem. They had a specific enough location. What else was there to it? And get, the thought of what came next unsettled him. Idly he tore the tops of the envelopes off one by one, scanning each one’s insides and dropping the uninteresting ones to the floor, where they made themselves home among the other discarded pieces of paper and files. Storms, they’d ransacked the place. Rob shook his head and brought his attention back to the envelopes. One life-insurance flyer (Rob found that strangely suiting in a morbid sort of way), a newsletter about economics, and a politician’s advertisement. Nothing of substance. “We have to be undercover,” he said finally, looking back to the map, though his thoughts were distant. “They can’t know who we are. No witnesses.”

“Thanks.” He took the sheet and stood up. Six cabinets on his end and all he’d found were walls of technical, academic text and a few photographs of various landmarks. Straightening out the piece of paper in one hand, he read through it properly instead of scanning: Shana had given it to him, so it must have been useful. And it was: Life Before Death, Doctor. Your report regarding the ‘dream battle’ your Radiants experienced with Sha-Thoexis is remarkable. Over this side we’ve only experienced conflicts on an individual scale, but I suppose the presence of two Bondsmiths in your enclave would have had a unique effect. I think I should let you know your report has helped us locating and purging no less than two secret hideouts the Voidbringers were using. It’s for this reason I enquire you to give any more information you have regarding this topic to assist us in the hunt. Journey Before Destination. - M Above the text, the email address stated that the sender was someone named Markus, and that they were from a place called Broadview. Rob nodded to himself, only allowing the slightest widen of his eyes. This was a useful email, indeed. Very useful. Underneath all the scientific jargon and pleasantries, the truth was here to be snatched, like gold hiding a few inches below dirt. “Good work,” he said, placing it on the desk, and strolling to the letters Shana had found. Like a mental jigsaw, the important parts of the email shifted and rearranged themselves in his brain, spitting out a semi-coherent rundown of it all. “Over this side.” “Broadview.“ “Locating and purging“ “The hunt.” “They’re finding and ‘purging’ Voidbringer hideouts,” he said to Shana, sidestepping strewn about sheets. “They’re the types of aggressive attackers we’re looking for. They dress it up in fancy language, but it’s hunting and killing them. And Broadview...” he scratched his head for a moment before turning to Shana. “They’re... in this city. Across from us, all the way in Northern Seattle.” That... was odd, but it made sense. Who trusted a single enclave of teenagers to a whole gargantuan city of 744,000 people? Rob felt himself grow cold when he thought about it. They were sharing a city with these attackers. And Doc never told them. His gaze shifted to the unopened letters Shana had found. What else was he hiding? In for a penny, in for a pound, he thought, and ripped open the top of tone of the envelopes. They were too far deep, too far past the invisible line that there was no turning back now. And in his pocket, unbeknownst, the black sphere pulsed happily and indulgently...

Rob nodded appreciatively to James and followed Shana up the stairs and to Doc’s room. When the lock was removed and the door began to swing open, Rob swallowed. As he approached and gently pushed the door further open, the step from the hall and into the room seemed like some imaginary line, some subtle threshold, a barrier between worlds. Behind him, the safety of rules, the status quo. And ahead: Doc’s room. The truth. Crossing the line and entering the room with a deep breath, Rob took a moment to acquaint himself with the office, which almost seemed cramped from the amount of filing cabinets. They ran from the floor to the ceiling and bordered the room except for the very front, which was occupied by a mahogany desk and a large monitor on on top of it. Doc’s computer would probably have even more information than the filing cabinets, Rob wagered, but there was no way they had to get into it (you couldn’t physically break your way past a password, he thought ruefully), so he’d have to leave it. Immediately he went to the first cabinet and slid it open, unveiling leagues of loose papers and documents. He picked a stack of them and skimmed through the headings: Current Investiture Cognitive Realm Research Report Spren and Cyamtics: An Overview Can THIS be YOU? Sign up NOW! Inquiry into Locational Studies on Investiture Federal Financial Report Nothing eye-catching. He dumped them on the floor and skimmed through another handful of files. “If you see something, call out,” he said, looking back to Shana and the door with the hole in it from where she’d broken the lock. A part of him felt anxious at having their security breach so easily visible, but it wasn’t like anybody was going to come up here, anyway. Doc was gone for a few extra weeks at the minimum. @Sorana

Rob nodded, trying to think of what that would entail. Doc had given him a home, he had led them and had taken care of him when he’d been in a new city, just getting used to his powers. Doc was the adult that anchored everyone here to the real world, had brought them all together in typical Bondsmith fashion. He provided stability, the foreign voice inside of him spoke. Provided a comfort zone, a safe place. He is the reason nothing changes, the reason we’re in this cycle in the first place! That made sense, Rob thought. After all, you couldn’t destroy the board if you didn’t break some of the rules. Lightly he stepped back, meandered over to the backyard door entering into the house again, looked back to Shana in a silent question as he slid it open and entered the main living room. “Hey,” he said to James, who was sitting on the couch, and tried to assume a calm tone. Surely Bondsmiths knew things about each other. “Would you know where Doc’s office is?” @Wyndlerunner

“The right ones,” he repeated affirmatively, found himself visualising the plan they were slowly carving out, a plan of affirmative action, a plan of not standing by anymore, of finding the root of this conflict and obliterating it. And when he looked in Shana’s eyes he could see she meant her words. Her face was hard, and her words were coated in mission and duty. Because it was their duties, as Radiants, to bring peace. At any cost. She was right. There were liars on both sides. And Rob hated liars. “So, it’s a plan,” he stated, stepping back and picking up a pebble off the ground. “See if Doc has any information on other, more radical Radiant groups. Follow that thread and see where it leads. Or go Voidbringer-hunting and use some of our interrogation techniques...” He breathed in a little stormlight and the pebble liquified between his fingers, dripping on the ground. “...to see what they know about who’s attacking them.” Rob nodded himself, finding himself appreciating Shana’s bravery, at the courage it took to admit your brethren weren’t always right. “You’re a good friend,” he said. “A great friend. I... wasn’t expecting much from this conversation, but you understood me. You’ve always understood.” He fell silent, then raised his fist slightly in front of him. “We will bring peace. And we’ll destroy the liars who get in our way.”

Rob nodded when she repeated his words, took a quick step towards him, face twisted, balled her fists in frustration and continued on. He nodded when she talked about how there would never be peace, nodded again when she said no one was even looking for peace, couldn’t stop nodding and his hands dropped by his sides when he realised she was beginning to understand him, understand the frustration, and a part of him was relieved he had been able to trust Shana enough to speak to her. The sphere continued pulsing when she stopped, and Rob waited in silence for a few moments. He stepped a bit closer and dropped his voice. “You know exactly how I feel,” he said, let the words hang in the air. She nailed down the feeling, the frustration at the vicious cycle. His voice seemed harsher to his own ears, but he ignored it and stared deep into her eyes. “You understand, understand it completely. The Voidbringers are liars. And murderers. And we are too if we stay like this, perpetuating the cycle by only fighting back when we’re attacked. You get it, Shana.” He couldn’t stop warmth from colouring his voice, and yet the feeling behind it was something else, something more than a simple agreement or friendship, but an emotion the sphere seemed to be driving: ambition. Hunger. Anger at the Voidbringers. Passion at the cause of removing them. Unable to stop his train of thought, he stepped closer again. “You’re right. Change the board. You...” he stopped for a moment to make sure he wasn’t lying, then continued. “...Are the best fighter I’ve ever seen. Together, we’re unstoppable. The dream, the prom, the wedding, the infested house next to ours. Storms, we even have to go on opposite sparring teams because of how unbalanced it is.” He stopped for a moment, mostly to notice the sphere seemed hot in his pocket. “No one else sees it the way we do. No one else is willing to change the board, but we can. Together. And we don’t need Doc or James or Cassie or Ben or Sawyer or Luther or anyone else.” He stepped back again, falling silent, then nodding to himself. “Change the board,” he repeated thoughtfully. “World War II only ended because of the atomic bombs, after all.” @Sorana

Hello there!