Canvas Town, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Sixthmonth, 1634 PTS

  The meeting had been set for today, three days after Eli had first told me about the Umrakian request. Even still, I had little idea of why the faction wished for a meeting with us. We had discussed the matter at length, but the only thing Rachel and I could come up with was that it was likely related to the ongoing events in the sixth district. Still, that the Umrakians would approach us of all forces… I could not help but find myself suspicious.

  As always, I was waiting at the head of the conference room’s table when the envoy arrived. My robes had been pressed in advance, and Rachel had insisted that tie my hair up formally. This was a first impression, and a sect leader had best be presentable if he wished to properly negotiate, if that was the Umrakians’ purpose. The two of us waited in silence for the envoy’s arrival, and as they finally stepped over the room’s threshold, I carefully took in their appearance.

  The Umrakian envoy was, to my surprise, a Tovus, one who had shifted their amorphous body to mimic the appearance of a Telaretian. At first glance, their scales gleamed in the light, but upon closer inspection I could discern that the scales were not truly separate from one another, nor from its eyes or flesh, all parts of the body composed of the same material. To an untrained eye, however, one might have actually mistaken them for a member of the alien species. As a Canvasian, however, I knew a Tovus when I saw one.

  “Sect Leader Cyrus Yu,” they said, analyzing me, and then turning their head to lock eyes with Rachel. “Vice-Sect Leader Rachel. My name is Right, and I am this station’s Third of Many.”

  “Have you come bearing a request or an offer?” I asked, leaning forward slightly, my voice tinged with a menacing, imperious tone.

  If Right was experiencing any tension, their body language did not show it.

  “Both, of course. I would be remiss to my people if I did not invite the two of you to join our ranks. The Hosts of Umrak would welcome you.”

  “I’m not interested,” I replied brusquely. I had no need for religion, nor for communities built around it. A sect was enough for me. Here was a place where I was admired, where I could progress, and potentially develop the strength to do as I wished. A place where I would not be compared to anyone.

  “I expected as much,” they replied. “No matter. In time, perhaps you will see that our way is the truth.” they then turned to Rachel expectantly.

  “Just get on with it,” she drawled, visibly annoyed by the being’s evasiveness.

  With the pop of an air bubble from within their body, Right chuffed an imitation of a chuckle.

  “I’m not sure whether you have heard, but the Margrave corporation has made a deal with the Hadal Clan. I’m sure your corporate partners will take great offense at this, were they to find out. One might be curious- just what does a corporation and a martial force have that might drive them to work together?” They paused for effect, but neither I nor Rachel was buying into the rhetoric. Perhaps such tricks worked better on the members of the cult than on experienced underworld leaders such as ourselves.

  “One explanation,” they continued, “would be that they wish to compete with your own joint effort. However… forgive my words, but a simple Venin Group could only be considered a competitor in the context of this backwater system. To attract Margrave’s attention directly, rather than through one of their subsidiaries… their interests must be attracted by something greater.”

  “We all know what they want,” I said, cutting the Tovus off. Who knew when they would finally get to the point if left to their own devices. And it was true. There was only one thing in the district that could attract so many forces’ attention to it. The Heirs were weak, and for those who were knowledgeable enough, there was also the fact that they had broken away from their Epon patrons. Their technology, something that the Staiven had long shown great interest in, was ripe for the taking, ready to be stolen and reverse-engineered. Everyone in the underworld and the major corporations already knew that far too well. Right would know this already, which meant that all of this pointless talk was an attempt to manipulate us. I decided to shut them down.

  “We know what Margrave wants,” I said again, “and our sect does not have any interest in taking further action in Little Celah,” I told them.

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  Right smiled, an unpleasant expression on their replicated Telaretian face.

  “You misunderstand, Riverfiend. We do not need you to set a single foot into the sixth district. All we want from you is to hamper the Hadal Clan’s action, so that they are too busy to focus on activity in other districts.”

  I frowned. If that was true, Right’s purpose would make a lot of sense. The Umrakians would not actually have any desire for the Celan technology themselves, but they would certainly care about the money they might receive if they auctioned it away to the corporations and government.

  Rachel delivered the Tovus a charming smile.

  “That’s quite the request, Third of Many. If we cause enough problems for the clan, I don’t doubt their Supreme Elder will make his move. It’s quite a risk. So… how about we discuss the price you’re offering?”

  The Tovus’ spongy eyes shifted, as if they were wishing to spill from their scaled sockets. They smiled, revealing the gaping darkness within their body, the abscess they used to generate their vocal noises. I had always disliked the appearance of a smiling Tovus.

  “I hear that you are in great need of money, Riverfiend. Might you allow us to make a… donation?”

  Rachel’s smile grew broader, while I held my emotions firmly under control. To try and pressure the Hadal Clan… that was quite the risk. We would be treading a fine line. As I had already told the envoy, Du Qin Hadal could single handedly destroy us if he decided to take the time to do so. Even if I was fortunate enough to escape, he could annihilate the entirety of the sect and kill the vast majority of its disciples in just one move.

  “We’re always happy to accept charitable gifts, but how sizable of one are you thinking?” she asked.

  Right shrugged, their scales jiggling slightly in a manner Telaretian physiology simply did not behave, as they maintained the smile on their face.

  “Let’s say… a quarter of a million serite?”

  I glanced over at Rachel, who was letting far too many of her true thoughts show on her face. Even with the risk, I found myself tempted. We had about a month and a half left before the loan was due for return, but the sect’s upkeep and development was still costing more than we were saving. Two hundred and fifty thousand serite was indeed a large amount as well, and would help. In truth, we needed the money. Desperately, in fact.

  Despite that unfortunate truth, I still found myself wary of the Umrakians. For a faction whose only evident goal for interfering was financial gain, they were certainly investing quite a lot into this matter. Were the Umrakians taking action on behalf of a hidden backer? I considered the idea, and found that it was difficult to come to a conclusion. Perhaps I was being paranoid, and they were simply taking a calculated risk, but to offer exactly what we needed at such a moment… they had clearly done their research on us and our situation.

  ‘We will need to discuss the proposition between ourselves before agreeing, of course,” I said. Rachel nodded in agreement.

  “Of course,” Right responded, seemingly undaunted by my words. “I will leave you with a way to contact us when you make the right decision.”

  With that, they bowed, and then turned to file out of the room. After Right left, the conference room was silent for an extended moment, eventually broken by the sound of Rachel snorting. Left alone in the room, she had changed her form once again.

  “I’m certain. Someone put them up to this. The Umrakians would not have made such a high offer if they weren’t being subsidized.”

  I nodded. The Umrakians were known for seeking the maximum benefits for their commune, and with outsiders, were ruthlessly stingy.

  “That was my thought as well. They seemed to be well-informed as to our financial difficulties and capabilities, but they did not make any mention of what has been going on in the district this past week,” I noted.

  “They must have bought an information package on us, perhaps not one sufficiently up to date. I can try to track the purpose, assuming there was a digital element.”

  I nodded, approving of her intentions.

  “If they knew we might be coming into conflict with the clan anyway, they would not likely have offered so much money. Still…”

  If we accepted the deal, we would be trapping ourselves in a tight balancing act, to hamper the orthodox clan without truly angering them.

  “All we promised was to make the attempt,” Rachel said with a smirk. “If we fail, we fail. We wouldn’t have broken the contract in that case.”

  I analyzed Rachel’s expression, noting the cast of her brow, and the cerulean glow of her eyes.

  “A quarter of a million… it’s hard to say no,” I muttered.

  Serite: [The official currency of the Pantheonic Territory, the value of serite is guaranteed by the Church of Fulstovis itself, which holds 60% ownership of the Serite Corporation, who manufactures the chips. To prevent counterfeit currency, the Serite Corporation uses warpings said to be created by Fulstovis herself in order to generate complex ashatic structures that pertain to each individual chip, perceivable to any individual with a soul sense. Even the corporation’s engineers are said to not comprehend their method of production. In theory, each individual chip would have a unique signature.]