Erin leaned back, resting against the back of a couch. Facing her, with a range of expressions, sat Lukas, Aurrum, and Ricardia.

"There you have it," she said. "I might have just risked us all because of some delusion."

"Why tell us now?" Aurrum asked quietly, breaking the silence. "This entire time... I thought we were under special orders from the Rete. I risked my crew for this!"

"And I risked my son," Erin answered. "That should be enough of an indication that I truly believe in this."

"You just told us that you spoke to Ferrus!" The captain was beginning to gesture wildly "I mean, that alone-"

"But you found him, didn't you?" Ricardia cut him off, her voice firm. "You found that doctor, which proves that whoever that was was telling the truth."

"Fine," Aurrum leaned back and crossed his arms. "You know I can't just shake this off, Erin. People died. People that thought they were serving their nation."

"But they are," Erin said. "Preventing the Saiseki from succeeding will stop this war from escalating."

"...And you couldn't have gone to the Rete," Lukas added, already puzzling it out, "because you don't want them to figure it out either!"

"It's a perversion of the natural way of things," Erin said. "I truly believe that there will be consequences."

"Fine," Aurrum said. "So, things have gotten hot enough that you finally have to give us a little more to work with."

"Erin shrugged," I shouldn't have treated you like Ferrus had done to me."

"So why include her?" He nodded towards Ricardia.

"Because she should know, considering she's the key."

Aurrum frowned, discomforted, but said nothing.

"Right before we rescued him, Ito tested Ricardia and discovered her status as a Candidate," Ricardia continued. "He hasn't been explicit about the details quite yet, but it seems that her unique connection to a Planatae was the key needed towards understanding how to form that human-Planatae connection artificially. Once that hurdle is overcome, of course, then control over Factor development itself is possible."

Suddenly Erin sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Oh, Ferrus... I wish Viktor were here to help me deal with this."

Lukas jerked his head up. "Did something happen?"

"He's in critical condition," Erin said, her voice clipped. "They're doing what they can."

A heavy silence fell across the room.

Him, and the rest of my crew, Aurrum thought. He understood the importance of this meeting, but he wished he were among those recovering men and women, doing what he could.

"Well, no use thinking about that now," he said aloud. "They're doing what they can."

The others nodded reluctantly, except Ricardia, who had sat up straight with an apparent realization.

"I get it," Ricardia said, her voice a mock-whisper. "I know why you told me."

"A Candidate is already a rare, seldom thing - but one who has chosen to reject Rete law and go on the run?" Erin shook her head. "It's all the excuse they'll need to take you away quietly, especially once they find out how important you are to their goal."

"Do they think you're still working on it?" Aurrum asked.

"They were... but I don't doubt the Senate has other teams on the task as well, for redundancy's sake. Of course, once Alto's supervisor contacts the capital, they'll know I haven't been working on this."

"And that's a problem? Just bow out of the program."

Erin's eyes flicked once to Lukas, than back to Aurrum.

That's right - the kid shouldn't have a Factor, should he? His old friend must have smuggled him on-world to pull that off - and if he was reading her correctly, it meant that the Rete had something to pin her for

"Here's the deal," Ricardia had already returned her focus to Ricardia. "If either nation finds out about this connection between Factors and the Candidates, then they will come after you."

"They would stop an Awakening for her?" The question had come from Lukas. When Erin nodded, his expression only grew darker.

"I'll stick with you," Ricardia said, guessing where this was going. "I don't really have much of a choice in the matter anyway."

"This could all still be some conspiracy..." but even as he said ii aloud, Aurrum's words rang out hollow. No one even bothered to deign that with a response.

"So... what are you planning to do?" Lukas asked. He took a quick breath, then added, "I'm not afraid. I want to help."

She met his gaze, and a hint of a smile touched her lips for the first time since their meeting began. "I don't doubt it. You've... shown me how much growing you've done these last few years."

"Damn right!" Aurrum said. "How many kiddies do you know have successfully pulled off a prison break?"

Ricardia laughed. It was a weak sound, but some of the tension in the room dissipated."

"So, what do we do?" Erin echoed the question. "We have several options. We could leak the hint about Candidates to the Saiseki and the Rete, and hope that mutual destruction will make them think twice about doing anything hasty. We could drop the whole thing, return to our lives, and hope for the best."

"Neither of those seem like solutions," Aurrum noted.

"No, they don't," Erin said, "which is why I'm thinking we need to push our special friends into action. Here's what I think: Ferrus wanted me to prevent this research from turning into anything real, but Planatae - the Awakened ones - have their own Avatars. They can interact on a human level if needed. But if they knew that the Candidates have the potential to give humans control over Factors this entire time, and their direct interference accidentally let it slip...

"Then they'd have done more harm than good!" Lukas said, picking up the pace. "I mean, I can't imagine anyone with the guts, or means, to experiment on an Avatar without a strong reason. Maybe they're trying not to alienate us?"

"Maybe," Erin said. She stood up with an air of finality. "I'm going to return Ito to Saiseki personally as a show of good faith."

"But he'll reveal what he knows!" That came from Ricardia.

"Right. And if he does, then they'll try to find a Candidate as soon as possible. It's doubtful, however, that they'll have a near-Awakened Planatae on hand. Luckily, we do."

"Hey, wait-" Aurrum began to protest, but Ricardia waved her off.

"What do you need me to do?" At the captain's look, she sighed. "She doesn't have to spell if out for me - if I don't help, then you'll just cart me back to Caedem, won't you?"

"That's the idea, essentially."

"At least we're on the same page."

"Don't worry," Erin drifted towards the door. "It won't be the Saisekans we're gonna introduce you to."

"Then who?" Aurrum asked. Damn woman didn't even ask if we were going to commit, he added silently.

"We're going to Saiseki itself," Ricardia said. "It's time to put the pressure on."

Ricardia looked up at the woman who had rescued her, who had such a reverence for the Planatae that she was willing to go into the heart of enemy territory to fulfill a request from one of their own. What she was asking for was a dangerous thing, but it was also an adventure, in a way. One that had meaning, that would save lives. Ricardia wasn't nearly ready yet to become something else, she decided.

"I'm with you," she said, standing up as well. "I'll trust your plan."

Lukas nodded along. Aurrum, sighing, gave his assent as well.

"Let's get on with it then," Erin said. "We've got a lot of work to do."