Our story today takes place in the Cyberpunk Space Western world of The Fey Frontier.
It begins with a job that appears its already gone wrong. Part of our party, (Ulysses, a foxfolk) (Daimon, a human) (Andromeda “Andy”, a kalashtar) (Mark II, a warforged), plummet from the top of the mesa outside of Beacon’s End, a city of outlaws, syndicates, and folks hiding from something or someone. They plummet through the air towards the top of a moving train, in the dark, at midnight, equipped with flying rigs that catch them as they approach.
Ulysses and Mark II land steadily on top of the train, Mark II sinking like a rock, Ulysses deftly landing in a roll. Daimon & Andy fall between two cars and catch themselves on the coupling link between them. Train guards atop notice them, and approach. The party handily deals with the guards, working as a cohesive unit, flipping, leaping, shootin’, stabbin’, and straddlin’ whatever they need to, in order to take out their targets. The warforged guards clank into the sand off the edge of the train. They leap down, onto the platform next to the vault car. An engine roars as another member of the party, Berry (Possumfolk/Scrabbler), rolls up on her trailburner, a max-max-esque all terrain vehicle. She boards the train, and blows the doors.
Inside, the party finds in addition to the valuable cargo, dead bodies, fresh blood, no more than a few hours old. Andy checks the pulse of one and finds a dagger mark it its jugular, military precision. Ulysses immediately starts investigating the scene, looking for clues as to what may have happened. The rest of the party searches for the 5 items they were sent to steal from this train. They locate all but 1, which they determine is likely in the large tall safe at the back. Just as Berry finishes picking the lock, Ulysses pinpoints a point of heavy gunfire, and discovered a warm, welded square of metal on the ground, clearly a fresh hole in the traincar floor. Inside the safe, a leather tube containing, hopefully, the painting they need. Inside the tube, nothing, but a business card sized shard of glass, shattered in a distinct pattern. They’re fucked. Ulysses points out the hole, and Mark II bends under the train, seeing spots where something was clearly mounted. A small rig, custom, to ride up to the train, burst in the bottom, kill the Rail Tracers that were inside, and get out clean with the painting. Efficient. Fast. Bad news. The party grabs the other items and bails into the Trailburner, roaring back to Beacon’s End.
They descend to The Narrows to meet their contact and syndicate mouthpiece, Renoir, an alligatorfolk. He listens to their predicament, and tells a story of another group that fell into a similar situation, ending up forging the painting through a forger known as “The Rook”, who can only be located by going to a specific spot in The Narrows, and speaking to The Kobolds, a group of Narrows connect navigators.
The party takes their things and heads to that spot, meeting Crumb, a Kobold, who takes the cookie that Renoir gave them, and runs off. They follow, as Berry collects the crumbs that Crumb drops behind him, so that they aren’t followed. They are led to an abandoned burned out old tavern deep in The Narrows, and Crumb, smelling something nice, runs inside. The party follows, descending through a trapdoor hidden behind the bar, one at a time. They startle our final party member (though she doesn’t know she is yet), Genevieve (tiefling), who has her gun pointed at the stairs. Daimon throws his hands up and mentions that Crumb let them in. Genevieve shoots a mildly disappointed glance at Crumb, saying that no one enters her space, lest a stranger. Daimon points out that unfortunately, it is more than just him, as the rest of the party, save for Ulysses, descends. Berry and Crumb devour fresh muffins as the rest hold their hands skyward, explaining who they are, and why they are here.
Upstairs, Ulysses sets an alarm spell at the door, in case anyone should follow. Andy describes her predicament, that she’s been running, and they were forced to do a job to ensure her location wasn’t reported back. Daimon mentions they need a forgery of a painting, Rust and Mesa embrace. Genevieve asks if this is a trick, or a test, as she was already commissioned a month ago to make a forgery of this painting, and points across the room at it. Ulysses descends the stairs, and recognizes Genevieve just as she recognizes him. Both relieved that the other is not dead, the old acquaintances catch up in just a word or two, nothing more. Genevieve discusses the logistics of her order, that no one has yet come to get it, and she does not know when they will come calling. Daimon offers his portion of the Black Mark job reward, a favor from the Brokers.
As they discuss this, Ulysses alarm goes off. He warns the group, then dips behind the stairs. Genevieve beckons them to a hidden tunnel behind a bookshelf, and they all follow. She tips a lit candle onto the paper covered floor, which ignites immediately, the oil stained parchment going up in smoke, for the second time in her life. The trapdoor above opens, as the bookcase slides back into place. Gotta run.
In a flashback, the party heads through the Lumenark Market in Beacon’s End, and Andy is bumped as she walks. Later, as the party is discussing their findings in another matter, Andy finds a letter in her pocket threatening to reveal her identity and location, if she and the rest of the party does not sign up for the Black Mark Job designated “Deadweight”. Andy reveals to the party that about 10 years ago, she ran away from “The Reverie”, a cult of Kalashtar RUST worshippers, where she grew up. The party, minus Berry, agree to help, depending on what this black mark job pays. Berry wants to help, but won’t sign, because they are blood binding agreements. The party connects with Renoir, and receives the job, to rob a midnight train in 2 weeks, collecting several items. The payment, is a favor from The Brokers, each. Ulysses immediately signs upon hearing this, and the rest, outside of Berry, follow suit. Each signer dips a quill into “The Black Ichor” (a dark ferroufluid-like substance of ink mixed with ash from the city of Ashdepth), pricks their finger for a drop of blood, and signs. As the signature completes, it burns away leaving only a smudge. No one knows who signs a black mark job, except for the Black Ichor.
We jump back forward and the party is now inside of the tunnel in Genevieve’s now abandoned burning workshop. They rush through it, walking for 15~ minutes winding through the Narrows, coming to a trap door at the end which brought them into a burned out abandoned lantern oil factory. They head to the Last Thread, and the majority of them get cleaned up to remove the smell of fire, drinking and resting until morning. Ulysses and Mark II however, head to The Grinning House, a drug den within the Narrows, after hearing that the circus “Toomas and the Madlads” are in town. They proceed to the fairground behind the Grinning House and meet with 4 of the madlads, including Toomas himself. Ulysses wanders off with Ethelda, an elven aerialist, and learns about the special mix of substances that she weaves into her silks in order to entrance the audience. Mark II bets the dwarf that he can throw him further than the cannon fires him. Both methods have the dwarf landing in roughly the same place. The two head back to The Last Thread and rest until the following day.
The party heads up to the High Spire, a wealthy area above the Lumenark Market, to Spireview Hall, the home of Alistair Wendell a dangerous fixer for the wealthy, to turn in their goods. His huge manor has a rotating telescope that points up to the sky, but also can rotate down towards the market. His manor is immaculate and full of art, books, and sculptures, staffed by silent Kenku workers. Berry hands small vibrating chips to act as a warning in case someone needs help, and Ulysses ensures the party doesn’t speak. The enter a private study upstairs and are greeted by an immaculately groomed and dressed dwarven man, with a RUST arm, who introduces himself as Alistair. He inspects the goods, using various implements from his golden spectacles. When it comes to the painting, he briefly inspected the front, before flipping it over, clicking something on his glasses, and then sighing. He indicates to the party that he knows it is a forgery and that there are now, two options. Option A, which he said he would respect more, is that the party knew of the paintings value, forged it before the job, and kept the real one to themselves to sell later. Option B, is that the party was simply too slow, and someone else got their first. He demands a response, with a weight to his words. Ulysses tells him that they opened the vault and found this, along with the other goods. 6 dead rail tracers were inside the vault, and there was a calling card left for The Glassjaws. Alistair knows of them, and says that this situation now offers a predicament, checking his watch. Daimon offers that the party completes the job, by finding the real painting, selling the group as the right group for the job. Alistair indicates that he is not interested in the desperate, and that unless the group is willing to sign an addendum and extension, with the additional 2 party members unaccounted for (4 signed, 6 in the room), signing themselves on board. Daimon again pushes that they will just complete the original job, but Ulysses demands that they accept the terms.
The party goes outside to discuss, and writes their thoughts down in a small notebook, to avoid being overheard by the kenku guards. Berry says that she really doesn’t want to sign, because she doesn’t trust it, that her blood is precious to her. Ulysses points out that no one knows which 4 of them signed, and 2 of the original group can just sign again. They agree, and the party goes back upstairs. Ulysses signs, as does Daimon. Daimon asks for information about the Glassjaws, and Alistair begins to share what he knows.
Alistair says that he will tell the party what he knows about the Glass Jaws, but asks if they think he is a fool. He calls out both Ulysses and Daimon, the two signers, as suspicious. Ulysses was eager to cough up information, Daimon said that “they were involved the moment WE brought them on. While Alistair can’t prove Ulysses signed once before, Daimon’s words give him away. Daimon argues, offended, that he simply had someone else sign on for this “silly little train job”, in his stead and that he participated. Ulysses backs him up, saying that it isn’t odd for a benefactor to have someone in his employ. Alistair reluctantly relents, and offers what knowledge he has of the Glass Jaws.
Alistair indicates that the Glass Jaws are new, but not green. They are made up of former Greysouls (a militant syndicate for hire, where every job is a Black Mark with their leader), who went silent instead of going down. Ghosts with a contract clause. Every job is a calling card and a resume for another, a theft by invitation. You don’t hire the Glass Jaws. You earn the opportunity to make them an offer. The Glass Jaws often mask their jobs to look like something else. Syndicate violence, RUST madness, they leave chaos wrapped in silence. They are barely a syndicate. No turf, no territories, just results. They are led by a Leonin man named Breaker. Seven feet of caution and consequence. The party asks how they can find the Glass Jaws, Alistair indicated that you don’t. If anyone knows where they might be, its someone he’s worked with before. A strange codebreaker and cartographer of silence, named Chime. She has no allegiances, no affiliations, just curiosity for the craft. She doesn’t deal in coin, she’ll have an ask, and she works with whispers, resonance, silence, recordings. He tells them that Chime is located in The Belfry atop The Sootline in the Narrows beneath Beacon’s End. If she doesn’t know where the Glass Jaws are, then no one will. The party leaves, with the exception of Ulysses. He stays behind, and asks Alistair a question privately. He ponders, a curiosity about Black Mark jobs, that they are bound to blood, not to name. Alistair confirms this suspicion. Ulysses also asks if Alistair needs the painting, the ledger on the back, or if a pile of ash still constituted fulfilment of the contract, alluding to the fact that Alistair’s name, as a wealthy fixer, might be on the back. Alistair indicates that no, ash will not do, that he does need the ledger. Ulysses steps to the door, asking for a pair of spectacles like his, for validation of the painting. Alistair tosses him a simpler pair from his desk, indicating to validate, but do not read. Ulysses nods and heads out into the foyer to join his friends.
Andy, worried, tells Daimon that he has to be careful, that speaking like that to a man like that is dangerous, and that he isn’t just looking out for him now, its all of them. Daimon tells her that he doesn’t bend a knee to a motherfucker like that, and if anyone would take a bullet for his words, it would be him. Andy sighs, and says that she appreciates all he has done for her, but bullets in the chest of them both doesn’t help anyone, and to just be careful. He tells her to remember rule #37, “never let em see you sweat, even if its hotter than hellfire”, stepping away with his drink. Berry and Genevieve admire the art around the room, as Berry takes a quick sketch of the RUST forged statue. The party steps out of the manor, and heads towards The Belfrey.
En route, they discuss that they aren’t sure what to offer to Chime. They come to the conclusion that, she’ll have a specific ask, and that offering something in the meantime wont do them any good. Ulysses hands the glasses to Berry for inspection and safekeeping, and they proceed down into the Narrows.
They reach the Belfry, a now silent belltower atop the Sootline, covered in various color wires, each hanging with a litany of tuning forks and bits of metal of differing sizes. Berry steps to the stair, and says that you have to hum something true, like the sound and vibration of an engine. She does so, and a wild haired elven woman, Chime, sticks her head out, and beckons Berry inside. Berry walks into a room filled with more tuning forks, papers and strings from floor to ceiling, various pulleys and wires, RUST implements, a chaotic workshop. The rest of the party follows, at Chimes invitation.
Berry discusses what she knows about this process, the elder Scrabblers do this to resonate with the stars, to find paths and burrows beneath the dirt. Chime says that all living things, anything with a soul, RUST included, has resonance. They are all different, and one cannot escape their resonance, even if they change their appearance. You can mask it, you can dull it, but you cannot truly change it. It is your line of fate, everything that has happened and will happen to you, defined by your resonance. Though, it fades rather quickly when you die, left with only an echo of what was. Mark II asks what his sounds like. Chime says that it sounds like a wide open echo, twinkling, but something lurking behind the echo, a shadow in the dark. Berry gives her a bracelet that she makes from bits and bobs she has on her, and Chime gives her one in response, telling her to practice in the silence of the desert, away from the noise, to try to find the resonance, so that she can someday listen to her own. She asks Chime to look at the glasses that they got from Alistair, and she pulls Berry over to a device to look at it, spinning the glasses in a crosshatch of colored light, floating. Berry tries her hardest to tune into the sound, and hears the whirring resonance of the glasses. Chime shows her small runes carved into RUST metal on the tops of the frames where the glass meets them, their method of function.
Mark asks about finding the Glass Jaws. Chime indicates that the Glass Jaws are different, their collective resonance is a void, silence in the static. Hard to track, as there are other voids in Beacon’s End, but if she could hear the silence again, the pattern, she could pinpoint where they are. The party asks how she knew that silence was associated with the Glass Jaws. Chime says that the silence was located on an echo tag, a small chip that captures a resonance. She was given it by someone looking for the Glass Jaws about a month ago, in The Grinning House, but the Ironveil Enclave conducted a raid (not a normal occurrence), taking something from everyone. They were taken from her, and likely sent to The Sorting Annex, at the edge of town. If the party can reclaim those tags for her, she can pinpoint the Glass Jaws, that is her ask.
She asks Daimon why he masks his resonance, and Daimon tells her he doesn’t know what she means, maybe his is just dull. She says that Daimon hides his resonance because he doesn’t trust people, and perhaps he doesn’t understand himself, or maybe he does. She asks if he knows what his resonance sounds like. He says that to him, it sounds like a low pulse, with nails on a chalkboard. She agrees, but says there is also something else there, a melody, dancing in the silence, lurking behind the static. They ask about Alistairs resonance, as well as the person that gave her the Glass Jaws tag. Alistair’s resonance is like a fire, lower frequencies, but not a wildfire, controlled chaos. The one who gave her the tag, sounds like a low rumble, with a soaring melody that dips down and buries itself within the rumble, in an arc.
Andy asks about RUST madness, what it sounds like. Chime tells her that it sounds like an overwhelming dissonance, screaming, pleading to be freed, tearing apart the resonance of the host. Andy is unsettled by this, thinking of the echo tubes in the Reverie. Chime tells her that when too much RUST is used, their resonances can clang against each other, causing dissonance. Too much, and it can cause a break, causing the madness. Andy ponders if there is a way to sooth the screams, to stop the dissonance. Chime says that she hasn’t tried, but you would need to find a compatible frequency to wash the dissonance.
Before the party leaves, Ulysses steps, and hands a small object hanging from his neck to Chime, pressing it into her hand. She smiles at him, and nods in appreciation. Berry thanks Chime for her knowledge and kindness, and says that she hopes to one day hear her resonance. Chime tells her that it is there, and she believes she can one day listen, and that she hopes to see her again soon.
The party leaves and heads back to their rundown home, deciding that they will pretend to be couriers of the wealthy from Clerelux, where the train was headed, with paperwork forged to pick up the particular echo tags that were taken. Ulysses acting as the courier, a disguised Daimon as his bodyguard. Genevieve forges the paperwork using another Black Mark contract that Ulysses has on him as an example, with one Roland Bumbledore, RUST-tricity expert in Clerelux. The party split into groups, Daimon & Ulysses heading for the Sorting Annex, Genevieve and Andy dressing up and acting as casual shoppers nearby, Berry and Mark II hiding among the residential housing nearby. The coins that Berry made are ready to go, one buzz for help, two buzzes for backup. Ulysses and Daimon walk towards the slowly spinning building just outside of the Lumenark Market.
Ulysses & Daimon enter the Sorting Annex, and after some waiting and filling out of forms, discover that their echo tags have already been sold, which is irregular. They were picked up by an associate of Richard Tannenbaum, a raccoonfolk, “The Most Reliable Gentleman in Beacon’s End”. They ask the guards if the associate had in fact come to pick something up, and they said yes, confirming what they had heard inside.
The party proceeded to the High Spire, where they were told Mr. Tannenbaum lived. Given his reputation, the party pondered that he might be a partier type, and located a house, on the end, that matched that vibe. Women at the gate flagged down the party, asking if they were coming in. Ulysses flirts with one of them, and goes in, with the still disguised Daimon following. She creaks the gate open, and Mark II said he is here to fix the gate, and that he would like payment. She tells him fix the gate then come inside and get it. Berry fixes a spark device to the gate as a distraction tool, and Mark II feigns fixing the gate with her, and demands payment again. The woman tells him to come in and get it, but he refuses.
Ulysses and Daimon head in, the rest of the party remaining outside. The entryway of the manor is filled with numerous folks dancing and drinking, some waiting for Mr. Tannenbaum, some not. Ulysses asks her where she learned to dance, and she says “The Ballad and Blossom” in Clerelux. Ulysses asks if she knows Penny, and if she ever heard about a man named Ulysses. She confirms both, and Ulysses alludes that he is that man. She misunderstands, or feigns ignorance, and is surprised at his confirmation of this.
Outside, the spark device goes off, after Ulysses signals to Berry. Guards rush out to investigate, and Mark II rushes across the street and grabs the gate, pretending to be shocked. The guards push him off, and he follows them inside, to receive payment, for the gate. Andy charms her way in and distracts one of the guards. Genevieve and Berry hop the fence at different spots and skulk through the stone courtyard.
Ulysses and Daimon covertly trade places, with Daimon now wearing the face of Ulysses, copying his mannerisms. Ulysses creeps upstairs, and stands on top of one of the interior doors, making a fake smoke, and knocking on the door. Genevieve scales the house, Berry close behind her a few minutes later. Genevieve overhears piece of a conversation with Richard and an unknown dwarvish man. The pair walk downstairs to investigate the knock. Ulysses signals again. Another spark device Berry had placed in the yard goes off, Daimon shatters his glass, and Mark II goes stiff as a board and falls to the ground. The door opens, and Richard steps out, to investigate the smoke & commotion. He taps his cane and appears down on the ground floor. The dwarf follows out, and Ulysses dips down, swinging into the room, closing the door, blocking it, tieing the handles, and rushes around investigating as quickly as he can. Detect magic reveals that he is being scryed on, and he waves in the direction of the invisible scrying orbs in the corners of the room.
Berry goes out onto the deck, Genevieve grabs a diary from the bedside table at Berry’s request, and finds a locked safe behind a large dresser. She fiddles with the lock for a few minutes, struggling with it. Ulysses grabs a few objects, and comes to a locked desk. He whispers up to Genevieve and Berry, who are investigating a floor up, in the bedroom, that there is going to be a loud sound. He casts shatter on the desk as the safe clicks open. Richard turns towards the sound and says “Well well well, looks like we have some guests”.
Ulysses explodes the writing desk of Richard Tannenbaum, who, downstairs, turns towards the sound and taps his cane, vanishing and appearing at the door. The door is stuck shut from the ropes that Ulysses tied around the handles, and Richard’s voice booms out in the room “Now what might you be doing in there, son?” Ulysses quickly grabs 3 small tightly wound scrolls that were hidden in the desk beneath a set of fine cigars, and says “Not no more”, sprinting up the stairs. In the safe, Genevieve finds a picture of Richard standing with a fine dressed dwarven man (not the one here today), a small simple locket, and a sealed document. She re-locks the safe, pushes the dresser back, and runs out onto the balcony with Ulysses & Berry. Berry whips a small device out and casts Feather Fall on them, as they sail over the railing, over the fence on the side of the house.
Richard taps his cane again and kneels next to Daimon, disguised as Ulysses, and questions him intently, as he is currently wearing the face of the man that has broken into his office upstairs. By the door, Andy sees Berry quickly gesture to her, holding up a small metal object, pressing it into the ground, before the 3 escapees flee off into the distance, to Genevieve’s former burned out workshop.
Richard continues to question Daimon, his iris flashing with light similar to the light from someone rewinding a tape, indicating to Daimon, Andy, and Mark II, that he knows they came to the gate as a group, and that Daimon was, at the time, wearing a different face. Daimon drops his disguise, introducing himself as “The Nightengale”, and tells Richard that they were hired by the others in order to provide a distraction downstairs. Richard says that the only thing stopping him from either killing the 3 of them right now, or ransoming them off, is that he needs them alive to make contact with the rest of the party, and the fact that he is a “reliable businessman”, certain that a deal could be made. Daimon indicates that an introduction can be made, and Richard warns him not to bother fleeing, because though Beacon’s End may be for those looking to run away from other lives, it is always watching, tapping his eye. Midnight, at the Grinning House.
The 3 leave, and Andy runs to the side of the fence where Berry pressed the object into the ground, after they are escorted off the premises. She picks up a small spikey orb, whose eyes open, identifying Andy, pulling out a small sign and writing “Remember the fire” on it, before turning it to ash. She pockets the small orb creature and joins the others, as they separate, agreeing to meet at the workshop.
In the workshop, Ulysses and Genevieve inspect their findings in the burned out basement, while Berry covers their tracks in the ash upstairs. Ulysses unfurls the 3 small scrolls and finds 3 sections of a larger land contract with Richard’s name nowhere to be found on it. In addition, the other papers reveal several freight contracts and manifests, that are legitimate, but sketchy at best, with several different holding companies and names on it, all with his signatory last name, Tannenbaum in the title. The wooden cube, does not yet reveal its secrets, with no visible opening to it on any side.
Genevieve inspects the picture, finding nothing on the back, but noting the 2 men standing in a field, with shovels, a half dug trench, and something buried behind them. She copies the photo carefully, getting all of the details. She then moves to the locket, made of a crude metal plating, finding inside, a dried pressed seed with the word RESONANCE scratched into the metal underneath it. The document, which she carefully unseals, is a land lease contract, a farming contract specifically, for Water Plot Delta-17, located in a “dead zone” the middle of nowhere in the desert. She notes this as odd, as it is not a regular contract for land, but for farming specifically.
Berry comes downstairs and inquires about the cube. Ulysses says that he cant yet figure out how to open it, and shakes it to see if anything rattles inside. He hears a very slight whispering as he does, but Berry, Berry hears some sort of resonance. Ulysses casts detect magic again, while all of the items are laid out on the floor. He again gets divination from the cube, and from the locket, gets enchantment, abjuration, and necromancy. He warns Genevieve not to put on the locket. Berry hands Ulysses the glasses, and takes the cube from him to inspect it. Andy & Mark II enter, leaping down into the basement as well, updating the rest of the party on the situation.
Daimon takes a bit longer, running a few errands of his own in private. He heads first to meet with Eve, owner of The Shade Bazaar in the Narrows, a shop for disguises and enchanted clothing. They enter a private room, as a shadow peels itself off of the wall, forming into her shape, manning the counter. He asks her what it would take to make someone disappear. She says that particular skillset would best be addressed with Sister Mirabelle at the Widow’s Veil, another Narrows shop. Eve removes her cloak, revealing a nearly sheer dress beneath, flirting with Daimon, turning a small broach on it, as it turns into a jacket that she drapes over his shoulders. Daimon asks what something like this costs, and she says “a drink and an interesting evening”, she twists the broach back into a cloak, but leaves it on Daimon’s shoulders. She tells Daimon to please tell Sister Mirabelle hello for her, staying seated on one of the many couches in this private room. Daimon leaves, noting the mirror image figure of Eve following his gaze, whispering “have a good evening, Nightengale”.
He heads to The Widow’s Veil and speaks with Sister Mirabelle, also in a private room, about falsifying a memory, in his own head, of killing 5 people in a small room. She tells him that memory is tricky, especially when modifying ones own memory. You must believe it, or others that view the memory will fail to see its details in full. He pivots, suggesting that the memory then be given to someone else, instead. She tells him this is easier, though it will fade after some time. He leaves a 20 gold deposit and heads to join the party, telling her that he will return at 11 tonight to pick up the draught.
Daimon joins, and tells the party his plan, and then quickly approaches Ulysses and with not full force, punches him in the cheek, telling him not to abandon him wearing his face without knowing the plan again. Ulysses spits a small bit of blood, telling Daimon that had it been anyone else, he would have had to come back for them, but he knew that Daimon could hold his own and adapt, so he felt comfortable with the plan. Daimon acknowledged the faith in him that Ulysses had, and apologizes for the punch. Ulysses says “No ill will”, and shows the contract to Daimon, who reads over it.
Mark II and Andy inspect the cube, Mark II shaking it and then pressing it against his face to try to capture any resonance. He gets a small bit more, of rustling of leaves. Andy shakes the cube and spins her hand, hearing the same as Ulysses did, but Berry too now hears the leaves, but also, the scraping of nails on stone. She takes the cube and retreats into the tunnel, for silence.
The rest of the party discuss the plan, to meet Richard tonight at midnight, and blackmail him with all of these things, in exchange for the echo tags they need. The plan of Daimon “killing them” with his false memory, is deemed risky, and the party abandons that for the moment, with the primary goal being to blackmail Richard. Ulysses holds up the contract, saying that Richard is not reliable, nor a gentleman. With the glasses now on, he spots a hidden, invisible note on the back of the document.
“Shell’s clean. Bones want the lower cisterns for logistics once re-route’s complete. Claws are sniffing at the mesa tunnels already. We give them the highlands to draw their teeth. Wes doesn’t know what it’s for. Let’s keep it that way.”
As he reads this note aloud, Berry in the tunnel succeeds. Making a small platform of metal, she blows beneath it, sending the cube skyward, spinning it rapidly with her deft possum hands in the air. The cube sparks with bright light and rings out loudly through the tunnel, echoing into the basement, a voice. A voice that both Ulysses and Genevieve recognize as the voice of the now deceased Morgan Lux.
“I think it’s... breathing. I think it knows when I’m near. You said it wouldn’t... please, I can’t— I can’t sleep anymore... It’s still singing.”