The corridor outside the interrogation chamber was dim, lit only by the faint glow of containment seals embedded in the walls.
Layl stood across from him, her arms also folded, her posture rigid. Dmitri leaned against the wall to her left, his dagger still spinning lazily between his fingers. Yulan sat on a crate to her right, her notebook balanced on her knee, her pen poised but not moving.
No one spoke for a long moment. Then Dmitri broke the silence.
"So."
"So," Layl echoed.
"That was unpleasant."
Dmitri shrugged.
"Both can be true."
"There's a hidden faction." Emma finally said, his eyes narrowed.
Nobody disagreed. The Revolution was one player. Now whoever set up the Red Maws and the automatons was also a third actor operating in the shadows.
Yulan looked up from her notebook.
"The mental manipulation was sophisticated. Whoever placed it was quite powerful either at using thier Trait or an artifact. Both are undesirable scenarios."
Dmitri frowned.
"That complicates things."
"It clarifies things," Layl said.
"We have been treating the Revolution as the primary threat. But this new development changes things. The Revolution is a symptom. The real threat is whoever is manipulating the people with it and whoever was controlling the pirates."
"So now the questions that we have to answer to get to the bottom ofthis are," Dmitri said.
"Who are the orchestrators? What did they need the artifact for? Are they a single body or multiple, each with a hand on either the automatons or the pirates?"
He paused.
"Honestly, we're making remarkable progress."
Yulan deadpanned.
"Your optimism is disturbing."
"Thank you."
Emma rubbed his temple.
"The Red Maws concern me more immediately."
That shifted everyone's attention. Layl nodded slowly.
"Because of the split."
"Yes."
"The Red Maw fleet is fractured at the moment. Their leader is wounded and missing. We don't know whether or not he was able to link up with the remaining ships in his fleet so we should anticipate the worst. Worse still, if the other pirate factions learn of their weakness, they will move to crush them in order to gain more power. The seas will become a war zone."
Of course, pirates were predators and predators smelled weakness. A fleet with no head was an invitation. Raids. Territorial wars. Hostile takeovers. Entire pirate organizations could disappear within months.
Yulan frowned.
"Trade routes are going to suffer. Badly."
"Insurance rates will skyrocket." Dmitri said.
" And merchants will use this to charge more for their goods." Layl added with a sigh. "And if the Red Maws collapse completely?"
Emma nodded.
"The seas will becoe a battlefield as the other pirates fight in order to claim more of that vacuum, with normal civilian ships getting caught in the crossfire."
The room fell silent again. Nobody liked that possibility as Aerthos depended heavily on maritime trade. Instability in the Southern Sea would ripple throughout the continent.
Food.
Materials.
Trade goods.
Everything would become more expensive. It was almost assured that the Trade Union and Free Guild would try to maximize thier own profits despite all this. That would be most undesirable because it would make the people more inclined towards the revolution. The number one issue that had made people resort to such radical action the the first place was this entire aspect of the economy in the first place. The Guild and Union's unrelenting tug of war in order to gain ecenomic control of the continent had created heavy load on the shoulders of the people.
The upper classes like nobels and officials earned more and therefore didnt really care much for the conversion rates between the two currencies. It was a different story for the lower classes. They were mostly farmers who were a source of primary goods and didn't make enough money. If they wanted to trade with merchants who were affiliated with either thr union or the guild and tooka currency one didnt posses and therefore needed to convert, one would see that money one had worked long and hard for would loose its value. They would end up having to give away most of thier goods for less of a profit.
While Regions like Blackwood weren't really affected by this due to the Lor and Lady doing everything to make their territories self relaint enough all while fighting for the rights of thier people, other Lords werent that benevolent. This created animosity between som lower classes and all the upper class who they lumped together as the same.
On the normal, all they would be able to do is wallow in thier resentment as the status quo is maintained. That was until the Revolution rose and people decided to use it as an outlet for thier frustrations instead of actually looking at the real source of the problem and supporting the lords who wanted to make a difference by taking the first steps themselves. Such is society.
Dmitri tapped the wall thoughtfully.
"There's another issue. The pirate himself."
Emma looked toward him. Dmitri continued.
"Whoever is behind this may come for Blackwave. He is a loose end. They will want to tie it."
Emma frowned.
"Even if he remembers nothing?"
"Would you take that chance?" Dmitri asked.
"Honestly it may not even be the hidden person you're talking about. It may be the Red Maws themselves who may come to eliminate a traitor." Layl said.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Yulan asked.
"Don't be silly Yu. It's never a good thing to have pirates running amok, even if they are reducing thier own own number. The problem is, Blackwave is different."
"What do you mean? Don't tell me you have a crush on him too. Won't Emma get jealo-" Layl punched him in the abdomen. Then cleared her throat and continued as Dmitri was on all fours, gasping.
"I'm saying that his personality has changed as a result of having his mind tpyed with."
"Are you saying its the hex?" Yulan asked.
"Not necessarily. He was still his crude irredeemable self according to the reports we recieved. But when he awoke here he was surprisingly mild."
"Your sure it wasn't an act?...No it couln't be. Even if if he was a good actor, the number of artifacts used as well as the procedure of the first interrogation before coming to the vault would have exposed him." Yulan said thoughtfully.
Emma sighed and pinched his nose.
"You seem to know something about this captain Gable." Dmitri said, getting off the floor. Of course Emma knew who was responsible.
''Pihla you bastard.'
She had used a mind blast to break the pirates psyche during thier fight and she was also the same person who had to reassemble the broken fragments in order to give the a suitable interogatee and not a functional vegetable. Knowing her she must have just assembled the core aspects of his psyche and done something to represent somethng with the rest of his mind because she thought it was "Too much of a hassle." That in itself was a break in regulations as unless under certain scenarios, one must not use either artifact or trait to tamper with the psyche of an offender.
'I'll give her a stern talking to later.'
"In any case, we need additional security." Layl said quickly changing the subject.
"Naval patrols. Containment measures. Expanded surveillance. All in preparation for infiltration attempts."
Emma exhaled.
"All possibilities remain viable."
"All possibilities may also be completely wrong."
"Exactly."
Layl looked at Emma.
"For now we should report our findings to our superiors. See what they have to say."
Nobody argued. It was the sensible approach. Emma inclined his head slightly.
"Thank you for your help."
Yulan blinked.
Dmitri blinked.
Layl froze.
The room became suspiciously quiet. Emma looked around.
"What?"
"Nothing," Dmitri answered immediately.
"Nothing at all," Yulan added.
Layl looked away.
Emma frowned.
Then dismissed it.
"I'm going to wait before filing my final report."
Layl raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"I'm waiting for information from a different angle."
That immediately caught their attention.
"Depending on what they finds, the situation may become significantly worse."
"Comforting," Dmitri said.
"Very."
Emma bowed, turned and left.The door closed behind him.
Silence lingered.
Then—
Dmitri looked toward Layl.
Yulan looked toward Layl.
Layl stared straight ahead and started walking.
"No."
Dmitri smiled matching her pace easily.
"We haven't said anything."
"You're thinking it."
"Can you blame us though." Yulan nodded jogging to keep up.
"You were staring," Dmitri said.
"I was not."
"You were absolutely staring."
"I was thinking."
"You were thinking about staring."
Layl buried her face in her hands.
"Oh gods.Can we not do this here?"
"We can do it anywhere. She was staring."
Dmitri rested his hands at the back of his head.
Layl's jaw tightened.
"I was not staring. I was assessing."
"Assessing what? His posture? His uniform? The way his shoulders—"
He stopped as a strong killing intent washed over him.
"Finish that sentence. I dare you." Layl said with a glare.
Dmitri took a step back and raised his hand in mock surrender. He grinned.
"You won't do anything, you love me."
"I tolerate you. There is a difference."
They rounded a corner. The corridor was empty. Layl stopped.
"I was professional."
"You were professional," Yulan agreed.
"I maintained composure."
"You maintained composure," Dmitri agreed.
"I did not—" She stopped. Her hand rose to her face. Her palm pressed against her face as it slwoly turned red.
"I grabbed his shoulder."
"You grabbed his shoulder," Yulan confirmed.
"I grabbed his shoulder and said—" She groaned. "'Wait oi, who do you think you're talking to?'"
"'Who do you think you're talking to?'" Yulan repeated. "Like you're the protagonist of an epic poem."
"I was trying to be confident."
"You were trying to be cool."
"Is there a difference?"
Dmitri patted her shoulder.
"It's okay. He probably thought it was cool."
"He definitely thought it was cool," Yulan added.
"Do you think he thought it was cool?"
They looked at each other.
Then at Layl.
Then back at each other.
"Layl..." Yulan began.
Layl covered her face with both hands.
"I hate you both."
"You love us."
"I tolerate you. There is a difference."
They walked on.