The Crucible lay vacant. For the time, in recent memory its concrete floor gleamed clean its lighting reduced to a faint blue standby haze. Alexa Solara remained at her vantage spot though her gaze wasn't directed downward. Instead she focused on a bank of monitors her thoughts a mechanism of analysis removing sentiment, drama and intent to reveal the raw framework of recent occurrences.
In her mind the data points lingered like fragments of debris:
1. The Leith Corpse (Drury): An O.R.C. asset, dead via E.L.F. tech, holding obsolete E.L.F. data. Purpose: To sow discord between her and Felicya. A finesse move, but a messy one. Too messy for Felicya's taste. A likely frame.
2. The Parliamentary Leak: A broader, untargeted act of exposure. Risked all their operations. Not a surgical strike, but a grenade. A chaotic move. A distracting move.
3. The Beneficiary: The Leith event sparked a internal dispute. The Parliamentary leak triggered a external emergency that required a coordinated diverting reaction, from all four leaders.
Her gaze tightened. The initial event required her focus her fury aimed at Warwick. The subsequent event abruptly shifted that focus, that fury onto a shared danger. It was a diversion. Create a clash offstage then trigger a flash-bang, at center stage. All eyes are drawn to the bang.
Who prospered through deception? Through drama?
Edgar Walker.
She mirrored his attitude during the emergency call. His agonized refusal, his implication of a " reckless" participant. He had indicated Arthur, the passionate idealist with a discreet gloved finger. It was refined. Yet refinement Alexa understood, was a kind of pride.. Pride produced patterns.
She accessed the forensic information Magnus had gathered regarding the Leith incident. The neural disruptor employed was E.L.F. indeed though the modulation frequency deviated slightly—a 0.7% difference in the carrier wave. Her technicians had identified this as a minor calibration shift from the original device.. What if it wasn't a drift? What if it was imitation? A demonkin, with -electrical emission abilities or one of Walker's gadgets might reproduce the effect. Though not flawlessly. The trademark was the flaw. He found it irresistible to include a flourish, a distinctive flaw to appreciate.
Next the Parliamentary records. The front companies. Agni Corp. A term signifying 'fire', in Sanskrit. Too blatant. Too transparent. A prank. The sort of prank Walker would pull. He was amused at their efforts.
Felicya was excluded; the leak clashed with her principle of concealed flawlessness. Arthur was an option yet the leak contradicted his declared aim of protection—it drew the grimy brutal reality nearer. No. The equation resolved to an answer.
She shifted away, from the screens. "Magnus."
He emerged from the darkness near the gallery entrance his presence steady, as the castle rock. "Chairwoman."
"The coordinated disinformation campaign continues. We will fulfill our role." Her tone was steady, resolute. "However assign a resource line. Call it 'Wraithwatch.' I need every murmur from Windsor. Not only their formal communications. Their inventory lists. Their fluctuations, in power usage. Their trash collection paths. I want to find out if Edgar Walker prefers a tea brand."
Magnus took this in his marked face unreadable. "You think he was responsible. Both breaches."
"I'm certain it was him. The initial action was a distraction. The second move is the one. He aims to draw our attention so he can advance inward without restraint. Something is occurring at Windsor that justifies such a cover-up." At last she met his gaze her blue eyes sharp, like shards of Arctic ice. "He has obtained something.. Accomplished something.. He doesn't want us to notice it."
"And the other chairs?"
Arthur is occupied struggling with his conscience. Felicya is calming her elves unraveling nerves. They are responding. We will respond well—openly.. In private we will shift. We are not hiding from the commotion he has sparked. We are employing it as a shield to move nearer.
A bleak grin appeared on Magnuss face. It was the sort of hostility he recognized. "Windsors protection is a maze. Gothic, dramatic, yet profound."
"Then we don't enter. We observe the exits. We strain to hear the screams that fail to reverberate. We gauge the silence that feels overwhelmingly profound." She approached the window resting a palm, on the glass overlooking the inactive Crucible. "He believes he's the puppeteer tugging the strings to force our movements. Very well. We shall perform the dance he anticipates.. We will be tracking his moves assessing the reach of his strings.. Just when he is not anticipating it we won't merely sever a string. Instead we will bring the blade to his hands."
She glanced over her shoulder her outline, against the blue illumination. "The Orsus lineage is resistant to interference and electronic monitoring correct?"
Their bio-electric fields produce static interference. Extremely difficult to scan or interpret psychically.
Excellent. Get Orsus-12. His upcoming stress-test involves deployment in the field. Covert, surveillance. I want him integrated into the landscape surrounding Windsor. A rock that listens. A tree that watches. Allow Walker to have assurance in his domain. Let him believe the spotlight is where he positioned it. Our vision will be, in the shadows as it should be.
Magnus gave a nod as the strategy took shape. It involved risk. Sending a subject outside was against procedures.. Alexa Solara's reasoning had always prioritized bold moves, over strict regulations. The sole rule was to survive.
As Magnus departed to start Wraithwatch Alexa stayed behind the faint blue glow highlighting her expression. Edgar Walker had executed the move a strategy filled with chaos and diversion. She refused to take the move in his scheme. Instead she would alter the game. While he assumed the role of ringmaster she would take on the position of stage manager mastering every gear and concealed trapdoor. When the moment arrived the concluding scene would not be under his control. Resilience meant more, than withstanding an assault. It was learning from it, adapting to it, and ultimately, using the force of the attack to break the attacker. The calculus was clear: monitor, understand, and when the moment of vulnerability was revealed—strike with the precise, overwhelming force of an unbreakable will.