Let's head on up. What's the haps, Ezzie? Did anyone come looking for us? Did you glean anything of note from the documents we recovered?
^don't actually say this
+1 except literally say that.
+1 Say it.
+1
Clearly we should make up a new nickname so that we don't end up calling her Es again~
would Ezzie work? 
Anyway I can see which way the tide is going. +1 to the "What's the Haps Ezzie" train choo choo.
You head up the ladder and, after a minute figuring out how the hidden door works, climb out into the records room. You leave piecewise here, just in case there's company up above that would respond poorly to him, and head up. The library is as quiet as ever but this time there are actually people here. Four people are sitting at a table over near the reference section on the first floor. The tall, thin windows show only darkness outside and the yellow halogen lights above the table cast hard shadows on its inhabitants. One is Esme, then another woman, and two men, none of whom you recognize. They are all dressed well enough but not ostentatiously; this could easily be a gossip session between clerks in a bank break room. You get a little closer and realize they either can't see you or at least haven't. The light of the table and the darkness of the area around them probably makes it hard to see anything without specifically looking for it.
"And this information came from a reliable source?" One of the men asks.
"Straight from the Axminster labs." She responds, pointing to something on the table. Probably the papers.
"Are you sure about that?" The woman asks, leaning in closer, "We've had no word of break ins, no alerts on the local coms. Are you sure this source of yours is good?"
"I can't be 100% certain, but if he's a spy we're screwed regardless. If they can really make make sapient undead capable of using necromancy and they know enough about us to infiltrate this place I don't know why they'd send a spy instead of a death squad."
"Find out more about the organization? Track down all our agents?"
"Maybe. But it doesn't feel right. If he's a spy- and I don't think he is -I'm convinced he doesn't know he's a spy."
"A sleeper agent?"
"Its not unheard of, there are ability users in the party that can alter memories, control minds, view remotely through the eyes of another." One of the men interjects.
"Still, if that's the case it seems odd. I haven't told him the names of any agents. The only sympathizers he's meet are Bruce and one of our workmen. Would he be permitted to murder soldiers and generally run amok for such slight info?"
"Maybe. Rank and file soldiers are fodder in their eyes. Anyone without abilities is disposable."
"I'm not certain your judgement on this is unbiased." The second man says, finally speaking up.
"Probably not." Esme says after a moment, "But is it wise to just assume he's a danger? We have no evidence of that. So far his actions have all been helpful, anything we have against him is just suspicions and missing information. Plus..."
"He's wearing Alexander's face." The woman finishes her sentence.
"Why would they make a spy like that?"
"To play on your emotions."
"Sure, I guess, but I'm just one part of this network. Even if they compromise me, there is only so much info they can get. That, and I don't think they would do it like this. They hated Alexander in a way that goes beyond just needing a scapegoat for the masses. Besides, isn't that more of a red flag than anything? Wouldn't someone less obvious be a better choice for a spy? You wouldn't be asking questions like this of some street kid who wanted to join up."
Silence for several moments.
"What about that skeleton with him?"
Esme pauses and seems to be thinking before answering.
"I don't know. Most of the time it just seems like a puppet but...when he's asleep it sometimes seems to have more agency than it should. It found that book, it spoke to him. It stands over him and looks like its protecting him while he sleeps. He might have ordered it to do that though."
"Could it be a spy? Some sort of listening device?"
"Its under his control. It was apparently unbound when he woke up, but carrying things for him. It was there for a reason."
The second man, the one who rarely speaks, leans back and stares up at the ceiling. "I don't like it. Best case is we have an unknown third party influencing events around us and showing us what they want us to see. Maybe they're a sympathetic group, want to aid our cause. Maybe they just want us to take down the government so they can take over. Even if they're altruistic, we don't know anything about them or their own actions. They could screw up and lead the authorities to us or interfere in our operations accidentally.
We can't afford to stay ignorant."
Author
Topic: The Left-Hand Path (Read 119118 times)