After returning from the FOB, Ria roamed around the mansion searching for Inanna. Eventually, she found Inanna in her own room, completely knocked out on the bed.

"Let's let her sleep; she hasn't slept for a week, after all. She probably won't wake up for a long time."

After seeing Inanna sleeping soundly on the bed, Ria gently shut the door and left for her personal office in the mansion. Today was a rest day, and other than people on duty, she did not need to be at the guards' headquarters.

Entering the office, the inside was still neat and tidy, the console on the desk was still on from Inanna's previous usage. Ria went to the desk and sat down behind it, and began her work, looking through the gathered documents. She spent the next few hours simply reading through document after document and sorting them between those that are useless, useful, and those that potentially could go either way. During her investigation, she found out some surprising yet unsurprising information.

While surprising, it was also expected that the Underworld had major dealings with the interior army, though it wasn't specified who was involved or to what extent. Regarding the Guards, there was information about Ria and Inanna which was to be expected, but there are apparently some underworld operatives within the guards' lower ranks. Apparently, the Underworld found it difficult to get their agents into the top brass of the Guards due to Irene and Gregson's close handling of things that happen at the top.

There were also various notes on various business dealings for their goods and protection fees. The most concerning item was a document about plans to flip a liability in the guards into an asset. But there was no mention of who this was referring to; either way, it's best to inform Irene about this before it happens.

Thonk Thonk Thonk

The sound of something lightly tapping a window could be heard. As Ria looked towards the direction of the sound, she saw a black bird lightly tapping against the window. At first, Ria thought nothing of the bird, but the presence of something slowly emitting light at regular intervals on its leg grabbed her attention.

She went up to the window and opened it. The bird then flew into the room and stood on top of her desk. Ria then walked back and grabbed the bird, removing the device on its legs. After she detached the device, she released the bird back outside the window and watched as it flew off.

"Some sort of messenger bird, it was quite archaic. Surprising that the art was still alive."

Ria went back to her desk and examined the device she removed from the bird. On the surface, it looked like a data card, but there was no way to plug it in anywhere. As she felt around the device more carefully, a slight bump on the underside of the device caught her attention. She pressed down on the button, and the blinking light suddenly stopped before starting up again, and a voice recording played.

"Head to the Residential District, Residential Building 1, 10th floor, Unit Number 8. There is a family there, one adult female, one male child, and one female child. Make them disappear and deposit proof of completion in a dumpster behind Whey's General Store, along with the recorder."

"Though I can probably deal with this safely without any harm coming to the occupants of that apartment, I better consult with Irene about this first."

Ria headed to Irene's bedroom and knocked on the door a few times. After a few moments of waiting, the door opened, and Irene stumbled out with terrible bed hair and dressed only in her underwear.

"Why are you waking me up so early..." Irene sleepily mumbled.

"Just get dressed and meet me in my office; there's an important matter that I have to discuss with you." Without waiting for a reply, Ria left Irene standing at the door and returned to her office.

Ria sat behind her desk and began recording the audio made from the recorder into one of her own devices, which she knew was secure. She then sealed away the original in a soundproof case and stored it away in a lockbox.

"So what is so important that you woke me up this early on my rest day?"

Ria then went over her second meeting with the Underworld operative and her subsequent infiltration of one of their highly guarded compounds. She discussed some of the more pressing concerns, such as the agents planted within the guards, their involvement with the Interior Army, and the note about flipping someone within the guards. She then played the audio recording for Irene to hear, though not the original one but the copy she made.

"So you are saying this document about flipping someone might be related to the audio recording? But...that address sounds familiar somehow."

"Do you know who it belongs to?"

"Give me a moment...let me check." Irene took out her handheld terminal and searched through the guards' database for the matching address. She knew that it needed to be someone high up within their ranks for this to be worthwhile, so she started there, and very quickly, she found the address.

"I found it...let me see here...it belongs to..." Irene grimaced, her words trailing off towards the end.

"Judging by your expression, let me guess...Gregson?"

"Yeah, Gregson's family stays there...maybe we should just abandon this plan of controlling the Underworld..." Irene bitterly suggested.

"No, we are proceeding as per normal." Ria flatly rejected.

"You can't be serious! As much as I want the darkness enveloping this Haven to be dispelled, I am not sacrificing Gregson's family for that!"

"Why don't you settle down first, Irene? When have I said I was planning to have Gregson's family murdered?"

"But, a proof of completion will surely mean..."

"Sigh...I know we haven't spoken much this past week, but have you forgotten who I am? The technologies required to fabricate their deaths might not be present on Thule at the moment. But Avalon does; I can settle this easily...though there is an issue that must be addressed first."

"An issue...?"

"Frankly, we didn't bring the materials or the equipment needed to make a realistic corpse such as this. There was simply no indication that we needed it before we made planetfall."

"Then aren't we back at square one! How are you gonna fake the death in that case?!"

"I said settle down; I wouldn't have mentioned it if it was truly impossible. There are two methods to get the equipment we need down here. First, I could simply have Selene, the other AI I told you about before, take the Failnaught back to Avalon to retrieve the equipment. However, I would rather not do this as I really do not want to disrupt the supplies to my FOB, and I'd rather not make too many trips through the shroud that encapsulates this planet."

"The second?"

"Well, this method could be done planetside, but it will result in combat with the revenants. We will deploy a void pylon; you don't need to know the details, but essentially, it will allow us to communicate with Avalon. However, while it is deploying, it is highly likely that any nearby revenant will be drawn to it, and every Awakened in Thule will be able to feel its activation."

A Void Pylon is many folds stronger than the

 communications beacon currently being calibrated at FOB; it will allow precise communications to be established and also allow the warping in of troops and resources directly from Avalon to the planet's surface. With the discovery that the planet contained a small amount of void energy, it is now viable to use such a structure.

The reason why the scans and communications from Avalon couldn't reach the planet's surface was that the entire planet was shrouded by chaotic void energies, scrambling any incoming and outgoing signals. The Void Pylon would be able to stabilize the local void energies, allowing signals from Avalon to pass through.

However, once it begins charging and stabilizing the local void energies, it will be like a giant beacon to anything that contains a decent amount of void energies. While regular civilians likely contain trace amounts of void energy, it wouldn't be enough to affect them. Awakened, on the other hand, will feel a tug that gets stronger the closer they are to the Void Pylon, and the same could be said for revenants, and they would likely rush towards the Void Pylon.

"How large is the area of influence we are talking about here?"

"Likely, every Awakened in Thule would feel its activation, and it will draw in the revenants from the 7th to 10th Haven. The area of influence will likely be felt slightly outside Thule itself."

"Isn't that pretty bad?"

"Quite so; however, there is a third option. We could technically fake their deaths with what we have on hand, but it would not be as robust as if we had the proper equipment. If anyone delves too deeply into it, they would likely be able to find out that the corpses are fake. I wouldn't mind option two or three, but it is up to you."

Irene leaned back into her chair, her eyes closed in quiet contemplation. After a few moments, she opened her eyes, her decision made up.

"We will go with option three; the second option seems too risky, and I'd rather not have a revenant horde encounter a revenant horde the size of which hasn't been seen since the initial revenant outbreak on Terra without at least consolidating the power within 6th Haven. Also, if people from the capital are sent to investigate because the awakened over there felt something, it will cause a lot more problems than it is worth, at least for now. Besides, we just have to work faster before anyone finds out about our deception, won't we?"

"Alright, we better act fast before someone else gets assigned this job. It is fortuitous that I was the one to receive the mission. They likely think that I would be able to easily get rid of evidence with my position, or they are banking on my incompetence, hoping that I get caught and take the fall for it. Either way, their objective would be complete; in either scenario, they would have someone high up that they could control."

After discussing their meeting time and methods, Irene left ahead of Ria for Gregson's house. Being a rest day, Gregson should be there, allowing her to brief them on their situation.

Ria then switched off the terminal and left the office. She then headed towards the kitchen, having not eaten yet. She made herself a simple meal and ate it. Before leaving, she prepared a second meal set for when Inanna wakes up and placed it on the dining table so that she would have something to eat once she wakes.

Ria exited the mansion and turned into her combat dress; she then teleported onto the rooftops and made her way to Gregson's house. Overlooking the building where Gregson lives, she waited for Irene to give her their preplanned signal: a blue light that she would flash outside to let Ria know which is the correct apartment to enter.

Sitting on the rooftop, waiting for the signal, Ria had a feeling that someone or something was watching her. It was likely not digital as she always carried with her a device that erases her presence from digital surveillance, and she always activated it when she transformed. But as she surveyed the area, she couldn't see or sense anyone nearby, only the presence of small animals that lived on the rooftops.

'An Awakened? Don't see anyone with the Eyes of Shamash; could be someone that can transform into animals or someone with the ability of clairvoyance. I don't see any souls within the animals that would indicate as such. Maybe one that can control animals? If it is clairvoyance, I wouldn't be able to do anything about it; hopefully, it isn't someone who bears ill will toward us.'

As Ria was looking around for the source of the person spying on her, a blue light began flashing from one of the windows. The signal that Irene and Ria agreed on beforehand. Determining that she likely couldn't deal with whoever was surveilling her, she decided to ignore it and teleported into Gregson's apartment.

As soon as she materialized in the house, she immediately gestured for them not to speak with her finger. Ria then quickly moved beside Irene and whispered into her ear.

"Do you know of any awakened within the settlement that either has the power of controlling animals or the power of clairvoyance?"

"Regarding animals, I don't remember any such records from either the 6th Haven or Capital Archives. There are clairvoyants, but usually awakened with powers of that nature are kept within the Capital for intelligence gathering, so there are likely none here unless they are freshly awakened. Why?"

"When I was waiting for you outside, I had the feeling that I was being watched. I didn't find anyone nearby besides animals; that's why I asked."

"If the Capital is watching you, we might need to quicken the process of taking control of 6th Haven; you are an unknown, and they might have watched your fight during the siege, or they might have even found your base. I highly doubt it is the underworld since there will be no need for you if they could just spy on us anytime."

"So it is likely not an immediate threat. If that is the case, we can continue with the plan."

"So Ria, I heard the situation from Irene, but she never told us what your plan is." Gregson spoke up.

Gregson's family consisted of his wife Clarissa, his son Holt, and his daughter Clara. Clarissa was a tall woman with green eyes and blonde hair. Holt took all of his father's genetics, keeping his brown hair and eyes, and Clara had a combination of both with green eyes and brown hair, both of them looking like they are 10 years old.

"For Clarissa, Holt, and Clara, I will have them relocated to my FOB. Once there, we can create the fake proofs of death, and then they will stay there until we take control of the Haven. Well, for you Gregson, I hope you can act."

"Damn it!" Gregson cursed, slamming his fist onto the table.

"Darling...we will be fine..." Clarissa reassured Gregson.

"Dad, I will take care of Clara," Holt told Gregson as he brings Clara closer to himself as if to show that he will protect her.

"I know...Ria, you better take care of them, you hear?"

"Of course, I always keep my word. We will leave tomorrow; I will arrange

 for transport to bring you to the FOB. Gregson, tomorrow go to work as usual, and once you get back home, get Irene and the guards to come over to investigate the disappearance. Make sure you can act by then because I want you guys to bring along one of the implanted underworld agents to the investigation."

"Yeah...I think I can act well enough."

"Irene, send me the addresses of the lower-ranked guards; I will investigate each of them."

"No problem, I will sort them out by who I think is the most suspicious first. Then I will send it over to you."

With the plan set, Ria sent a message to Selene, telling her to get a dropship stationed at a designated position outside the Haven and of the fake bodies she will need. After the message was sent, she returned to Irene's residence and awaited information regarding the lower-ranked guards from Irene.