The meeting is held in the vault lab. On J’s side is herself and Dena. On the opposing side are the Bancrofts and an associate from the League who they don’t introduce to Allia as well as one of the researchers who’s been doing tests in the bunker. With Allia are Sarrah, Allex and Emil plus a researcher that Emil acquired.

  J starts the meeting with a ‘oh so polite’ greeting – welcoming them all. Then the recriminations start.

  Sarrah’s parents and their plus one accuses J of ‘growing tendrils throughout the league,’ of diverting funding to her pet projects which she performs in secrecy even from other high ranking members. They also imply corruption as a method of her gaining so much control, but do not say it outright. Finally, they point out that in her secrecy she endangered a school full of children.

  J’s rebuttals seem lacklustre – like she not even trying to fully defend herself, just formally making them so there’s a record of them being made. Or rather, the execution of the arguments are sloppy. The substance isn’t entirely unreasonable.

  She claims that the entire reason she was invited into the country was because of her fame in innovative research, so of course it makes sense for her to be given projects. As to funding being siphoned to her projects, she knows nothing about that and is the responsibility of the directors. She doesn’t respond to the implied corruption accusation.

  As to endangering the school, her argument is somewhat better. She points out a contradiction in their complaints in that they say she didn’t take enough measures for security, yet complain about the measures that she did take, being the secrecy in which she attempted to undertake the project.

  This of course starts another round of accusations, in which Allia and her group is left watching from the side. Allia isn’t paying attention though, and still seems a bit distracted by her encounter with the fire witch.

  “Do you plan on just letting them fight forever?” Emil whisper’s, leaning into Allia’s ear.

  Allia shrugs. “Pretty much. Nothing that they’re saying actually matters. But we need to let them say it. Let them vent and then we’ll come in and mediate. Guilt tripping them by reminding them that the purpose of this meeting is because my life is on the line, yet they’re content to talk about anything else. But we can’t do that until it’s time for J to use whatever trump she called this meeting over. At that moment, we need to suck the air out of the fire by calling for its reveal first.”

  Emil raises an eyebrow. “How devious. I didn’t expect that from you.”

  “Not really. I just didn’t feel like intervening, which gave me plenty of time to assess. Something that they’re not in a position to do. The anti-Js needed to start out strong to get their grievances heard if they were to have a chance of getting them fixed. Which meant that J needed to defend herself to not lose too much. But of course, she can’t defend herself too vigorously since it would mitigate the impact of her trump.”

  “…Right. Just don’t wait so long that everything gets decided without us, okay?”

  “Yeah, don’t worry. Nothing is getting resolved anytime soon.”

  The argument moves on to specific projects being cancelled because of her, to which she finally responds that they only have a problem with her research’s extent because she’s from East Chthonia.

  Which, to be fair, it probably does have something to do with it. Not necessarily the Bancrofts, but their faction as a whole. As much as the Adventurer League likes to accuse the army of xenophobic paranoia, they’re not immune to the seed of doubt that’s planted when they see a foreign national rise near the top of their organization. The idea that maybe, despite her public falling out with the East Chthonian monarchy, she’s a foreign agent all along. They of course would never voice such an idea, but would think, then quickly supress it every time they hear about her getting a new grant.

  Despite the reasonableness of the claim though, Allia decides it’s time to intervene. With a gesture, she creates a sphere of light the size of her head, then expands it until it’s as tall as she is but making it completely hollow save for the outer few inches. With a snap of her fingers, it vanishes, making a boom as the air rushes in to fill the created vacuum.

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  Allia steps forward, all eyes on her. “While it is important to air grievances, this meeting is not to resolve them, but the fact that I have a potential time bomb inside of me. I trust both sides here, and find it regrettable that you cannot trust each other. I think however that you will have to learn how to, if you are serious about keeping me alive. Professor J??k?skürden, I believe you have a new insight you wished to share with us? Please do so now.”

  J stares at her, then nods. “Very well Allia, I suppose it’s time to bring some order this meeting.” She glances at the Bancrofts at the word ‘order’. “During Allia’s aborted attempt to return the orb, we noted an anomalous energy frequency emitted from the orb. Since this particular energy should only be detectable at a short distance, we sent requests for data from our closer stations to see if they detected this frequency. They did, but that’s not all.

  “In addition to detecting the frequency at the exact time that Allia reabsorbed the orb, they have reported an increase in miasma levels centred on the approximate location of the other signals. Moreover, around the time that the miasma levels’ increase was detected, the long range reconnaissance craft we sent to track the sky kraken by its wake reports that it has veered off course towards the nearest signal.

  “From this we conclude that the demons do not know how to track the orb or other signals directly, but are able to detect the change in the miasma and are using that to locate them. It is common knowledge that the demons are capable of communing with the monsters whose existence is tied to the miasma, so it is reasonable to conclude that they can sense changes in it even from a distance.

  “The miasma increase itself is dire new, but it is vital that the demons who attacked the school not be allowed to find the other orbs. Therefore, I propose that we mount an expedition to recover them first, for which Allia’s presence would be vital. The regular energy they emit tends to bounce off the atmosphere, making precise tracking difficult except when extremely close. The irregular frequency however should be much easier to triangulate at intermediate distances. Meaning that Allia could take out the orb to provoke the reaction and quickly take it in again before danger could arise. This would unfortunately mean removing you from school for the time being, but I have made arrangements to ensure that your credit does not take a hit.”

  J looks so smug at her ironclad reasoning for taking back control of the orb, for naturally she thinks she will be in charge of any expedition due to her experience with it and her resources from the league.

  Allia nods and smiles cheerfully. “Great. Allex, is the ship ready to go?”

  “Completely. The excessive luxuries have all been taken out and replaced with the lab and some room for any equipment J needs that we haven’t thought of. The only thing left undone is installing the cannon, which we’ll do en route for legal reasons.”

  “Great,” Allia smiles. “Well J, we’ll be leaving tomorrow. If any of you want to come with us, you’re welcome to it. We’ll need all the experts we can get, but you’ll need to learn to get along. Though I am grateful for what you said about my course credit. Although, it’s not like we’ll be falling behind on my classes when we’ll be traveling with so many renowned academics, now will we?” She laughs softly.

  J glances about, clearly confused, as if the floor has open up under her. “I’m… I must misunderstand. You already have your own preparations? How?”

  Allia shrugs. “Emil predicted that you’d ask me to look for the signals. So, we decided to prepare a bit.”

  “I see,” J says, glaring at Emil. “You did not indicate an ability to transport in time as well as space the last we met. Did you have a new insight into your power?”

  Emil laughs. “Nothing so grand. It was just obvious that you’d ask her to go after the signals to try to bring the orb back under your control. Of course, we fully believe your reasons are legitimate, which is why we decided to prepare our own ride, and as it turned out Allex’s dad has a sky yacht that he was willing to let us borrow. Didn’t even need to touch on his oath to get it. Speaking of, you’re going to have to absolve him of that if you want on. It’s just a bit silly at this point since so many people know.”

  “…I had forgotten he was technically under it. It is absolved.”

  “Great,” Allex smiles. “Now, the yacht is fully equipped for extended journeys. Most of the luxury amenities have been removed for research equipment, but it’s still a thing of comfort with enough rooms for everyone here plus a small contingent of underlings. The only thing we need to know is who wants to come along.”

  “And if you do,” Allia joins in, “we’re in charge, and you all have to get along.” The friends, sans Sarrah, grin triumphantly.

  J scowls. “This is my project. It’s has consumed by life for the past year. Now you want me to just hand it over to you?”

  “It may your project, but it’s my life,” Allia snaps, then lowers her voice to a more conciliatory tone, “and you’ll still be in charge… of the research. Provided that you get along, and share what you learn with your detractors. But we will be in charge of the general expedition. Understood?”

  “…Yes, I understand… and I suppose your view is responsible. Very well, I agree to your terms… if they agree to cease their sabotage attempts.” She glances at the Bancrofts.

  Rachel shrugs. “We don’t know what you’re talking about. Your enemies aren’t monolithic. But… we can use our limited influence to smooth things over for you… provided that you begin sharing information on all your projects with certain members of the League.”

  J scowls, but nods her head. “Very well, then I suppose it’s time to plan our trip.”