Act 2: Upheaval II - Revelations and search

"Better take this one instead, then." Konrad procures his self-made copy of the letter from Myr to Edward's hideout, and holds both it and his other hand outstretched. "I made an exact copy, you can hardly tell it from the real one."

Nadzieja exchanges the letter with the one Konrad is handing her. She examines the copy and nods at the quality of Konrad's work. "This will do."

"Damn," Amber exclaims. "We're really going to figure out which szef works for Edward."

"Does that mean we should wait before we meet Szef Makara?" Fluffle asks.

"Depends on how long this takes."

"Good question, Fluffle. Should we bother?" He looks to Mihai and Konrad.

"I don't know whose writing this is, Szef Makara included. But I could find out by this evening."

"I don't see any particular need to hop to it no. If meeting her won't help our cause in any way then why bother? We already have enough on our plates."

"Are we really that high on leads right now? She wants to meet in the Faculty; that's hardly a good place to lay an ambush. I'd hear her out, at least."

Konrad's lips curve into a smile at Steve, then wilt at the mention of leads. "True. We can't just dismiss her out of hand, not if she might have anything important to tell us. We should try not to tarry with her, though."

"Well, yeah, that's a good point. We'll do it then but we are doing our errands first. I'm not meeting another Szef without a shower and clean clothes." He looks pretty determined on this point.

"Me neither," Amber says.

"Fair enough."

The monk isn't too pleased by Konrad's request. Amber promptly elbows the red mage in the side and gives him a look that translates into, "Are you kidding!?"

"Ow." After taking the surprise hit, he sighs and massages his ribs. "I don't wish to offend, so if you are pressed for time, let us remain here."

"It would be convenient, yes," Nadzieja replies.

"Right well. Before we go on without mentioning this, i have a suspicion on what the Elementals' move might be."

Femke raises an eyebrow, while Amber, Fluffle and Nadzieja pay attention to Mihai's next words.

"Really?" the fairy asks, interested.

"I can't prove this, but i think they'll bring down the Dome."

Konrad raises an eyebrow.

"Why would they even care about that?" Amber asks.

"The Avatar we defeated months ago. It rambled about how we're all dead once they figure out how to shut down the Dome. I don't know who they are, but it didn't talk about them like they were a conquering nation. More like... single-minded monsters. That's what drove it to want to brainwash us - it wanted to have some fun before the end... fucker."

He takes a breath.

"Either way, the Empire finds out about the Elementals, then some time later all the nations go to war against it. We know the Elementals have had the capacity to infiltrate governments ever since they can use Green Mages as puppets. Then at the end of it all, a big Dome of Raw Magic erects around all of Medial. How would the Empire be losing the war in the first place when they had that kind of mastery? It was desperation, sure, but they may not have been trying to keep us out." - he pauses a moment - "They may have been trying to keep something in. Even if not, there's no telling what happened to them over two centuries of being trapped in an enclosed ball of Raw Magic. Maybe i'll be proven wrong down the line, but i don't think the Empire as we know it is there anymore."

"What if the Dome was meant to keep something out?" Femke suggests.