I can't hide my disbelief at him apparently being part of the board of… did Ebb say dissectors or directors? Swear she said 'dissectors'.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but two-eighths isn't enough for a hostile takeover," I say. "So let's put that on the 'never doing it' pile and focus on the important shit–getting all these people to safety and finding their anchors."

Ebb frowns. "Anchors? What're you… oh." She feels at her neck as a sneer splits her face. "That's what you're getting at. Sorta thought the old boss would've left me mine as a courtesy, but if he sees me as a threat, makes sense that mine'd be the first to go. Real question; am I screwed?"

I shrug as she goes to free the others. "All depends on if the horizonguard destroyed it already. If he did? Yeah. No sugarcoating it."

"Man… that's…" Ebb trails off as her shoulders slump, then shakes her head. "Nevermind, sweetheart; it isn't your fault our old boss went psycho. No matter the spin he tried to put on it after the fact."

"Exactly!" Belay vigorously agrees. "You were just another job, but then, for some reason, he became obsessed with you! Not obsessed enough to actually go after you, though; just enough to blame you for everything and push us to the limit."

The limit? They barely cleared things faster than we did, and we had way less people than they did. If that's their limit, then I'm not impressed.

"We're working on the assumption that he hasn't destroyed things yet," I say as I turn to get Gnash out of the theater. "If he has, then there'd be no point trying at all. Before I say anything else, though… Jumble? Can you make sure of a few things for me?"

Jumble steps out of the way so Gnash can slump against the hallway wall. She questioningly taps two fingers together with a snap of static. I discreetly motion at Ebb to give her the go-ahead, then quickly reconsider. Betrayal like this isn't the best way to start a… whatever the hell Ebb and Belay want it to be. Giving them a chance to spill all the info on their own, though? That'll build loyalty if they're actually against the horizonguard.

"Actually, wait a sec," I put a hand on her shoulder as Ebb works to free all the prisoners. "Let her finish first, then tell her what your spell will do to her. If she resists, then we can't trust her."

"She's going to resist," Jumble says. "Nobody wants to give up their secrets; it doesn't matter if they're benign or despicable."

I nod knowingly. "Yeah, I'm aware. But there's a chance the horizonguard left her here as a contingency plan. There's no way he thought Fore was enough firepower to keep this place safe all on his own."

"He thought Fore had his Class," Jumble points out. "And since Fore was a construct, there's no way he would've betrayed the horizonguard. Heck… a biomancer construct is probably a really terrifying combination. As long as it works the way I think it does."

"...Fair point. Hopefully it's a full explanation too," I glance over at Ebb and Belay, who're about a quarter of the way through. "They work fast."

Jumble nods. "Very fast. I wonder if they had a hand in setting this up."

Most likely, if I had to guess. Makes me wonder, though; if the horizonguard has a board of directors, how many of them did he bring here with him? Two of eight already seems like a lot. Can't be many more–especially if they knew this was going to be a long-ass quest. I watch the pair work in relative lockstep, though it's more like they're doing their own things while perfectly avoiding bumping into each other. Reminds me that I know basically nothing about stonestep solutions except for who runs it–and that they kill people.

System-sanctioned killings.

I flip a shield coin through my fingers in absent thought. "Jumble, even if we can trust these people, do we want them on our side?"

She raises an eyebrow and tilts her head to the side. "Why wouldn't we? They'd be really useful. And, I mean, if we don't do this 'hostile takeover' they're talking about, then wouldn't they just keep going as usual? We might as well try to get some influence in the way they do things."

I grimace because she has a point. But everything I know about companies tells me they wouldn't stop the killings just because we told them to. Hell, Ebb and Belay themselves probably don't want to stop. And they're the ones that are ostensibly on our side. There's no way this is simple… though we'll have to try anyway.

"We'll give it a shot," I sigh. "Just be ready for them to betray us at any second."

Jumble taps her fingers together reassuringly. I chuckle at the subdued, yet very vicious, motion and shift my attention back to the scores of prisoners now free from the horizonguard's literal shackles. We need somewhere to put them. Somewhere that won't risk our allies' safety in the case of a mole. The only safe place that comes to mind is Gil's shop. He'll bitch and moan about it, but he'll make sure they're safe.

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Once they're all out… all the guarantees go out the window. We'll just have to hope the horizonguard wanted bargaining chips more than he wanted more loyal constructs.

"All done here, sweetheart. What's next?"

I look up from my Class Card. Ebb's standing at the edge of the tear, hand resting on part of it, with Belay ducking under her arm to get out of there. I look behind her to make sure she hasn't left anyone behind, and once I confirm a very empty 'theater', I give her a nod. The din of disbelieving and hopeful conversation is undercut by the real possibility that everyone here is a walking dead man.

It's hard to watch. So I turn my eyes back the way we came. "'Next' is Belay escorting all these people to Gil's shop while we talk about strategy. Belay?"

He gives me two thumbs-ups and clears his throat. "Everyone, form up! Our boss threw us away like yesterday's clients, so our contracts are as broken as our spirits! Anyone who's still loyal to him can go lock themselves back in their shackles and wait for another miraculous savior to come by!"

An uncomfortable murmur spreads through the crowd. I catch more than a few glances thrown my way with the words 'target' and 'enemy' thrown in there. But just the same… are those exact words said in a different tone. Not anger, but confusion. People who're in disbelief that the person their boss said was their enemy just saved their lives.

Or… is trying to save their lives, at least. Belay raises his eyebrows and motions at the tear in an open invitation for people to go back. Wouldn't surprise me if at least a few of them had blind loyalty to the cause. Their boss has a lot of power in Palastia at the very least, and probably further in this world.

Seconds tick by. Ebb slowly steps away from the tear. She steps to the side with her hand still touching the tear to give everyone one last chance. Absolutely nobody takes it. Doesn't mean there aren't people here who'll betray me for a couple of pennies… but I'll admit that it's better than I thought would happen.

Ebb smiles to herself and lets go. The tear snaps shut, sealing the empty theater off for good. A few reluctant people glance at the space where it was–maybe regretting their choice–but not enough to speak up and get her to open it again.

"Too late now, so let's get moving!" Belay turns on his heel and gestures into the distance. "Everyone who can walk on their own, help anyone that can't. Leave any questions for when we're out of earshot of our new allies–they've got too much on their plates to worry about us any more."

I watch the mass of people march off into the distance. There's a hint of magic around them, and it seems like it's coming from Belay. Nowhere near as powerful as Jumble's, but he's hitting a shit ton of people at once. Once their voices and footsteps disappear into the distance I turn to Ebb.

"I need something from you."

She nods at Jumble. "Some of that staticy stuff you did to that construct?"

"Yep," Jumble confirms. "I'll use it on you and ask if you're going to betray us or work with the horizonguard in any way. Will you let me do that?"

Ebb laughs nervously. "Do I have a choice?"

"Of course you do. It just means you won't be included in our plans if you don't," Jumble says. "If you don't want to, you can tell us where the horizonguard is keeping the anchors and go follow Belay."

I nod in agreement. "But if you want to fight with us… we need confirmation. Can't have you turning against us at the last moment and screwing everything over."

Ebb stares at Jumble's fingers that crackle with static. She audibly gulps, her skin paling ever so slightly, and locks eyes with me. I put on the most honest, serious look I can manage. If she trusts us more than I trust her, then we can write her in. Luckily for me, I'm not in the position where I have no choice but to trust a dangerous unknown like her.

Question is… does she feel like she has any choice but to trust us?

Shaky hands reach out for my own. I blink in surprise, but gently take Ebb's hands in my own. Her breaths are coming shorter and quicker by the second. Whatever she's imagining can't be good; must not be able to let go of the picture the horizonguard painted of me and my friends.

"Do it," she says shakily. "Just… please… don't mess with my brain too much."

Jumble steps in and puts her fingers against Ebb's temples before she can change her mind. Static instantly swarms in and covers her eyes, stealing away whatever reluctance Ebb might've had about telling us things. I wait for Jumble to signal that we're good to go without letting go of Ebb's hands.

"Okay… go ahead." Jumble steps back and dusts her hands off. "She won't lie to you about anything."

Anything, eh? Alright. Let's start this off in the deep end. "How loyal are you to the horizonguard?"

"I'd murder him if I had the chance," Ebb spits without hesitation. "He locked me in there for voicing my opinion. That's what a board of dissectors is for! To tell you when your ideas are so moronic that they'll jeopardize the operation!"

Ebb huffs and puffs in anger when the last word leaves her mouth. That was a little… fierier than I expected. But so far, so good. "Good to know. So what was this 'operation' you just brought up?"

Ebb sniffs and looks away. "It's a secret to everyone but us higher ups; the horizonguard got word of this quest a long time ago, and he knew about the huge end-quest reward. So we put together a lot of people to join the quest with us, whether knowingly or not, and planned to step in and take the reward at the last minute by any means necessary."

I clench my jaw. "By murdering anyone in your way, you mean."

"Yes."

"Figured," I sigh. "Well, we're in too deep to care about that now. Next questions; if I was the one who completed the quest, would you kill me for the reward? And what is the ultimate reward in all this?"

Ebb's eyes sparkle behind the static. "I have no reason to hurt you, sweetheart. You're gonna be the new boss–a better boss. The reward? That's easy."

She lets go of my hands and slaps her palms together. "The ultimate reward is getting to choose where this city appears in the world–no matter how many people get vaporized in the process."

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