Fayron grunts, his attention on the recording crystal that just finished playing Captain Elinor's message.

"She's always been like this, you know," he mutters with annoyance. "An anxious mess on the inside, in spite of her chilly exterior. Worrying about every possible problem. Diligent to a fault."

"Yes, sir," Loric says, standing stiffly at attention. The captain may seem harsh, but compared to the stories I've heard of the head of the Lumiria Scouts... well...

"We have our hands full dealing with something far more important, but very well." He sighs. "As much as I hate to admit this, it does sound like a plausible threat worth looking in to." With a growing smirk on his face, he continues. "You will figure it out quickly and we can all get back to more urgent matters."

"I... will?" Loric asks with a hint of concern in his voice.

"We're already stretched thin. I'm sure the guards have been briefed on the upcoming auction? If Vera is so worried about this, then she won't mind lending your assistance."

"Vera?"

"Captain Vera Elinor," he explains with impatience. "How do you not know her name? You're going to need better observational skills if this reassignment is going to work out."

"But I don't want-"

"Enough." He interrupts sharply. "Talk to the quartermaster and get yourself sorted. I'll talk to Vera about your request to join us, and arrange for a squad to accompany you. Track Lara down using the Ether Leech first thing tomorrow and report back to me directly when you have something."

Loric hesitates, "Sir, the captain requested a full regiment."

"Relax!" Fayron says with a smile, stepping closer and grasping both of the man's shoulders. "What she doesn't know, won't hurt her. But Loric..." He says, leaning in.

"What you tell her - may hurt you." He whispers, lingering for a moment before pulling back. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," he says, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Perfect!" Fayron exclaims with a grin, releasing the man. "Welcome to the Lumiria Scouts!"

"This is worse than keeping tabs on the auction members. At least those rich bastards know how to gossip," Taryn says.

Loric sighs.

It's been a week since they started observing Lara. They weren't too happy taking orders from a guard, but nor was Loric happy to be involved at all.

"Next time I'll stay on guard duty while Bryn talks to the Captain..." Loric mutters.

"What was that?" Jax says.

"Nothing. Okay. Good morning everyone. Let's go over this again."

"Seriously?" Taryn says.

"Yes, and you can summarise for the class."

Taryn groans while the others chuckle at her misfortune.

"Lara is a suspected threat. To my sanity." That got a few chuckles, and a smirk from Loric.

"We've been tracking her location nonstop via the Ether Leech, as well as the Shadow relaying audio. She spends her days cultivating, either outside or, for some reason, in her room. She talks to a toy that she has named Nora."

"What a nutjob," says Jax.

"Maybe, but that's not a crime. Continue," says Loric.

"Other than polite pleasantries with the owner of the Inn, she has only had direct contact with one Serapha Wurl, A.K.A Sera," Taryn explains.

"Anything new on her?" Loric asks.

"No Sir. Baker, Age 22. Suspected Paper or Styrofoam Tier. Education records show a largely utility based power distribution. Harvester class. No criminal records, no suspicious activity. Just an ordinary civilian," She says.

"That's it?" Loric asks.

"What, you want me to lay out her entire childhood and her social circle? She's no one. We've checked," Taryn says.

"Check again! It can't be a coincidence that this is the only other person Lara is associating with!" Loric exclaims.

Taryn sighs.

"Yes, sir. What about Lara's planet, Earth. Has Fayron found anything?" Taryn asks.

"No. He told me the Archivists have nothing on it. And unless she does something more interesting than laying in bed all day, there's no way we get authorisation to spend the funds necessary to divine it," Loric says.

"It's probably a fake, anyway. What sort of braindead culture would name their planet Earth?" Jax adds.

"Have you been paying attention? Just look at her behaviour. That seems like exactly the sort of place she would be from." Taryn says.

"Oi! Listen to this!"

As Taryn's voice fills the small room, the rest of the group hurry over. Some were taking breaks, others were reading information crystals. Loric arrived first.

"Oh my dog oh my dog oh my dog" Lara says in a panic, heard through the Shadow Relay set up by Taryn.

"What's happening?" Loric asks.

"I don't know. All I could hear for the last few minutes was footsteps, and then suddenly she starts panicking."

"Nora. Nora. Nora! I can't do this. There's no way. I'm literally going to die!" Lara whines. " I can't do this - I can't do this - I can't do this!" is heard. It sounds like she is on the verge of tears.

Lara inhales deeply, then screeches. "AAaaaA! Why the hell am I doing this! Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out."

The people in the room all look at eachother.

"She's going to die? Is someone after her?" Loric asks.

"I... don't know?" Taryn says. "We haven't noticed anyone or anything out of the usual. There's Sera, but we've been monitoring their interactions. All standard, certainly no death threats."

"It's been 2 weeks and we haven't seen anything. She's probably just constipated." Jax says.

"Okay. Okay. We can do this, Nora. Best case scenario, we die. Worst case scenario, we die. Win-Win. UwU!"

"Yeah, that sounds like constipation." Jax says.

"Shut up and take this seriously!" Loric sweats. Fayron is already on my ass, if something happens...

"She's going to die, and she said that's a win? Did I hear that right?" Taryn asks with a confused look on her face.

"She's on the move!" Kael shouts, as they hear Laras door open and close through the Shadow Relay.

"Garik, Target is on the move and in a panic. She says she's going to die." Kael repeats in to the short range communication crystal.

"Copy," says Garik. "Orders?"

They all look towards Loric.

"Intercept her!"

"We were told to remain discreet, if you're wrong about this..." Jax says.

He grabs the crystal out of his hands and takes over. "Just stay close! If something happens, you need to end it quickly! We're on our way!"

"Let's go!"

Within the Prized Inn, Lara descends the stairs and makes her way over to the bar where Telviv is.

"I see her; she's hesitating about something near the bar. Approaching now," Garik reports in to the crystal.

"Hey Telviv! I was wondering... if it wouldn't be an inconvenience..."

"Yes, Lara?"

"We're nearly there. ETA 10 seconds," Loric Says through the communication crystal.

"Do you think I could order some food and eat it in my room?" Lara asks.

Loric stands in front of Fayron, after finishing his debrief of the days events.

"Well, that was a disaster. Luckily you were able to abort at the last second. Did she suspect anything?" says Fayron.

"No, sir. She never noticed us. Apologies. She sounded distressed and kept talking about dying that I just thought -"

"No matter. Actually. This is good news."

"It... is?"

"Until now you've failed continously to gather any information on Lara's capabilities. But with this, I'm fairly confident we now have some concrete proof."

"Proof?"

Fayron leans back. "It's very likely that she is in fact, divergent. We still haven't found out how she arrived here; the travel nexus hasn't reported seeing her. But if she is divergent, which her behaviour is pointing towards, then it's possible she is from a newly integrated world, in which case..." He pauses, waiting for Loric to finish his thought, as if testing him.

"She must be quite weak?" Loric says, doubting himself.

"Well, yes. Transmigrated individuals will only have recently gained access to the system. She must be what, no higher than Cotton tier?" Fayron muses. "Of course, it's still possible she arrived here by some other means. We can't rule anything out just yet."

"Of course Sir. We'll remain vigilant."

Fayron Nods. "Good. But more importantly, we can use her".

"Use her?"

Fayron leans forward. "If there's one thing you can be sure of with divergents..." he pauses.

"It's that they always know how to find each other."