Scrutimancer Weps adjusted his magitek spectacles as he reviewed the Infix Kitlix Viewcast provided by Sister Antiqilla, the glass orb projecting ghostly images above his desk.

  He made several notes in the case file, occasionally tapping Questik. His Infix Kitlix twinkled with cyan sparks every time he did.

  Victim: Foxkin Cedez Astra. Attacked by Subject Emerald Stratos in Adventurers Guild.

  Cedez Astra: Cambria Snail Cafe Maid. Likely survived through artifact use. Known mid-tier level Shadowmancer. Currently employed by Lord David, a new noble in Shandria with no local history. Third witness was Smith dragoness Remicra Ognemerska and had a full history as property of Lord Burgundy, currently subleased to Lord David for 'dungeon exploration' according to Overseer Pricci Destrie.

  Claims of "Stratos" heritage by perpetrator Emerald Stratos. Unable to verify claim.

  Possible Gold Dragon God Empire connection. Unable to verify.

  Multiple references to human delver "Alexander Glock" by perp. No Guild registration for Glock. Unable to verify claim.

  Diplomatic immunity claim by perp. Unable to verify claim.

  Slave collar deployment suggests high threat assessment by Watch.

  There was nothing but holes in this case.

  Scrutimancer Weps rubbed his temples, closing the case file with a weary sigh. The whole situation reeked of political complications he didn't want to deal with. Let the troublemakers cool their heels in the cells for a few days while he focused on more pressing matters.

  Like the series of mysterious artifact thefts from the Guild vaults. Or the concerning reports of unauthorized portal activity in the Lower Reaches. Or the...

  The door to his office burst open with enough force to rattle the shelves of case files lining the walls.

  Arch-Guild Enforcer Legarth Wixoff stumbled in, his massive frame somewhat oddly diminished without his signature magisteel armor.

  "Weps!" Legarth bellowed. "We have a situation! A catastrophic situation!"

  "Yes?" Weps asked, looking up at the bulky man wearily. "What situation? Why didn't you just call me? Where's your Voicecast bracelet?"

  "Not working! Sitting in a fridge! It's DUSKBLOOM, Weps!" Legarth roared. "All of Undertown district is being overrun! Some madman released bags full of the parasites from the Gloomy Horse Guild tower. The walls between Abystall dungeon and Undertown are breached by explosive magic!"

  "What?!" Weps sputtered. "Slow down. Start from the beginning. Where's your armor? Why aren't you in uniform, Enforcer?"

  "My magisteel armor is locked in a cold room too!" Legarth lamented, looking disheveled and tired. "Thirty thousand silver worth of enchanted armor, contaminated by those accursed mites! I just got out of the tunnel. Watchman Stekafrak had to blast me with an ice spell for ten minutes after I pulled everything magical off me to make sure I'm clean! All tunnels between Undertown and Shandria have sealed automatically due to the doomsday siren!"

  "Who released the mites?" Weps asked, his Kitlix twinkling as it recorded. "What were you doing in Undertown?"

  "A job for the bankers," Legarth said. "I was.... extracting a group of Adventurers per order of High Justice Luborkand."

  "Show me," Weps said.

  The Scrutimancer's Kitlix climbed onto Legarth's shoulders and placed a paw on the big man's forehead. In another minute the Kitlix rushed back to his owner and tapped his head. Scrutimancer Weps went pale.

  "By her Divine Shadow," Weps breathed as he processed the memories from his Kitlix. "This is... catastrophic. The entire district..."

  "That's what I've been saying!" Legarth exclaimed. "We need to mobilize the Watch, quarantine..."

  "Already happening automatically," Weps cut him off, tapping his Kitlix to consult the Astral, his mind racing. "Undertown is already sealed except for the single choke-point exit which has been secured by Ice mages and high level Watchmen. But that's not what concerns me most."

  "What could be worse than a Duskbloom outbreak?!" Legarth demanded.

  "We can't stop a Duskbloom outbreak, you know that. Undertown is to be quarantined. All we can do now is find and punish the people responsible," Weps said grimly. "This 'Quartermaster' you encountered. Describe him to me again."

  "Young human male, early twenties perhaps," Legarth recounted. "Dark hair, casual manner, seemed almost amused by the situation. Claimed that the Duskbloom was released by a dragoness named Emerald Stratos... Claimed that Emerald is from another world."

  "Another world? It's not possible to open gates to other worlds from Arx. It is possible that she is a summoned though," Weps frowned. "There's an Emerald Stratos in one of our cells now. She attacked a foxkin in the Adventurers Guild."

  "A dragoness in our cells?" Legarth blinked. "That's... convenient."

  "Indeed," Weps nodded, his Kitlix's ears twitching as he nervously tapped his familiar. "And this human claimed she was responsible for the Duskbloom release?"

  "Yes. Said she set up dimensional bags full of mites around the Gloomy Horse Guild tower as some kind of... prank. Because someone from Undertown insulted her."

  Weps' frown deepened. "That matches her behavior pattern. She did just assault someone in broad daylight for questioning her authority."

  A knock at the door interrupted them. A junior Scrutimancer entered, looking flustered.

  "Yes, Xistin?" Weps asked.

  "Sir," Junior Scrutimancer Xistin said breathlessly, holding up a yellow folder. "Documents just arrived from Undertown. Found in the office of Grand Moloch Arkenish."

  "The Topaz den owner?" Weps accepted the folder, his Kitlix climbing down from his shoulder to peek at the contents. "The Moloch?"

  "Yes sir. According to the adventurer who brought these to the choke-point, Arkenish was found... deceased in his office. Heart attack. Probably couldn't handle the fact that all of his Topaz supply was about to get eaten by Duskbloom," Xistin revealed. "The documents detail extensive connections between Arkenish's operation and... Lord Zalimar."

  "Zalimar?" Weps' eyebrows shot up as his Kitlix rushed over the folder.

  "Yes sir. According to these records, he's been supplying Topaz to Undertown for centuries." Xistin nodded. "And according to this paperwork... Lord Zalimar is a necromancer, one who's been operating in Shandria for thousands of years!"

  Weps paled further. Questik rushed over the papers.

  According to what Questik sensed, the paper was written by an orphan from Undertown.

  A list of names. Teenage delvers, each dying under suspicious circumstances in cycles of approximately one to fourteen years each.

  "By her Shadow," Weps swallowed. "If this is true, then we have just exposed their entire network."

  Xistin nodded.

  "We need evidence to confirm these statements," Weps once again ran over the names on the paper. "Go to the Gilded Gryphon Inn and verify if dragoness Emerald Stratos rented a room there in cycles of 1.6 years over the duration of... two hundred and fifty two years."

  Xistin nodded and hurried out.

  Weps slumped back in his chair. His Kitlix paced anxiously on his desk, dark edges glinting in light cast down by Ignix Kitlix.

  "Sir?" Legarth asked carefully. "What's going on?"

  "Something big," Weps said grimly. "Much bigger than just a Duskbloom outbreak. It seems that some luck came from this catastrophe. The death of the Grand Moloch and this report exposed a centuries-old criminal enterprise of Topaz smugglers. One that's been operating right under our noses."

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  The heavy iron door creaked open as Scrutimancer Weps entered the windowless cell, his magitek spectacles glowing faintly in the gloom. The cell was cold, damp, and reeked of mold.

  Emerald sat hunched in the corner. The prisoner's ruby scales were dulled with grime. The gray prison robe hung loosely on her frame. She looked pale and gaunt.

  "Miss Stratos," Weps said coolly, unfolding a stone seat from a wall to sit next to the prisoner. "I trust you've had time to... reflect on your actions?"

  Emerald looked up, her gold-orange eyes filled with tears. The slave collar around her neck pulsed with a sickly red rune, suppressing her magic.

  "Please," she hissed, her voice hoarse. "You have to believe me. That... that fox-woman. She wasn't normal. She had no heartbeat, no blood..."

  "No blood," Scrutimancer Weps repeated, adjusting his spectacles. "Yes, you've mentioned this several times. Along with repeated claims about a human infiltrator named Alexander Glock and mysterious accidents plaguing you which caused you to attack Miss Astra at the Adventurers Guild?"

  "It's all connected!" Emerald lurched forward, only to be yanked back by the chains binding her to a wall. "He's behind everything! The accidents, the fox-woman, all of it! He's turning everyone against me!"

  "And who exactly is 'he'?" Weps asked.

  "Alexander Glock!" Emerald snarled. "Or whatever his real name is! He showed up at Skyfall Academy claiming to be a half-Thunderbird, but he's human! Just a pathetic, magic-less human who somehow managed to trick everyone!"

  "Skyfall Academy?" Weps raised an eyebrow, scratching his gray scales. "I'm not familiar with this institution. Where exactly is it located, Miss Stratos?"

  "In... in Leviathan's Cradle," Emerald faltered, stumbling over her words. "Near the Dreadspine National Park..."

  "Miss Stratos," Weps said carefully, "there is no academic institution by that name in the Shadow Empire. And I've never heard of these locations you mention."

  "It's not in your stupid Empire! I'm from Earth, you bloody knob!" Emerald growled.

  "Earth?" Scrutimancer Weps repeated, glancing at his Kitlix who flashed green.

  "Yes!" Emerald exclaimed, hope flickering in her eyes. "I'm not from here - I'm from Omnithornia! My father is Lord Stratos, head of the Stratos Dragon Clan! We're interdimensional delvers!"

  "Interdimensional... delvers," Weps repeated. "And you came to be in Shandria how?"

  "Via the Earth-Arx gate!" Emerald strained against her chains. "In Instructor Zalimar's classroom! But that human bastard banished Instructor Zal into some doomed dimension and now..."

  "So," Weps said. "You're claiming there's a permanent gate to another world in Shandria?"

  "Yes! No! I mean..." Emerald slumped, struggling to focus. "The gate only opens during delving class on Fridays for two hours! Time moves differently here - two hours on earth is a week in Shandria!"

  Weps' Infix Kitlix still glowed with green. No deception detected.

  "Tell me more about this... Alexander Glock," the Scrutimancer said.

  "He's a liar and a cheat!" Emerald snarled. "He's wearing like a whole bunch of hexasuits! And he's got this AI thing, one that helps him manipulate everyone! He's turned my friends against me, made everyone think I'm crazy!"

  "I see," Weps said, making notes as his Infix Kitlix sparkled. "And what is an AI thing?"

  "Artificial Intelligence! It's like a network that can draw fake images and stuff! It's human tech, not magitek. Computers n' stuff!"

  "Uh-huh."

  Weps tapped his Kitlix. A projection of financial data manifested in his lenses. Numbers and graphs glowing with an eerie blue light.

  [Priority alert from Scrutnet. Unusual financial activity confirmed. Large quantities of unknown magically potent fluid being sold across Shandria. Individual drops selling for as much as 1 celesteel card each. Source of fluid cited as: Emerald Stratos.]

  Weps stared at the chained Lindworm.

  "Miss Stratos," he said. "Would you care to explain why you're selling some kind of questionable magical fluid across Shandria?"

  "What?!" Emerald sputtered. "I haven't bloody sold anything! I've been locked in this damned cell for days!"

  "Not in person, obviously," Weps said, adjusting his spectacles. "But according to our Scrutimancy, someone has been selling an extremely potent magical substance from unknown origin."

  "The F does this have to do with me?"

  "According to the receipts, a percentage of the money is going directly into your delver account Miss Stratos," Weps said.

  "WHAT?!" Emerald barked. "MY ACCOUNT?! HOW?!"

  "You've been quite a busy dragon Miss Stratos," Weps continued, scrolling through data in his spectacles, "Making substantial investments. Buying up Topaz warehouses now that the land they're sitting on is worthless. Was it your plan to devalue the land by releasing the mites?"

  "I didn't buy anything!" Emerald howled. "I... I lost my card... or someone stole it! What mites?!"

  "Who exactly stole your card?"

  "Alexander Glock! It has to be him!"

  "Yes, this mysterious human you keep mentioning to us," Weps said dryly. "Who infiltrated Skyfall Academy, defeated your instructor, and is now apparently running a criminal empire in your name. Riiiight."

  "YES!" Emerald strained against her chains. "Finally, someone understands! You have to help me stop him!"

  "Miss Stratos," Weps stood up, his spectacles glowing ominously. "Let's review what we know. You arrive in Shandria, scream at cafe maids, harass a whole bunch of people in town, attempt to murder someone in broad daylight in the Adventurers Guild, claim diplomatic immunity, threaten to destroy the city, and now we discover you're running an illegal substance operation and unleashing parasitic plagues on Undertown."

  "No! That's not..." Emerald protested. "I didn't unleash any mites! What are you on about?!"

  "Furthermore," Weps continued, "when confronted, you spin an elaborate tale about being from another dimension, involving mysterious humans, non-magic technology, and some nonsense about temporal dilation. Do you take me for a fool?"

  "I'm telling the truth!" Emerald thrashed against her chains. "Don't you imbeciles have truth-telling magic? I see that Kitlix glowing green!"

  "The Infix merely indicates you believe what you're saying," Weps said coldly. "Not that it's true. Delusions can read as truth to magical detection."

  "I'm not delusional!" Emerald roared. "Check my memories! Use your Scrut-sight or something!"

  "We did," Weps adjusted his spectacles. "My Kitlix went over your memories while you were passed out earlier. Your memories are... corrupted. Fragmented. Likely magically modified. You think that you are also a... Superhero from a non-magic world called the Earth, named Ember Kilborne."

  "No," Emerald paled. "That's not... that's impossible. I'm not..."

  "Due to this, truth spells cannot work on you. You are mentally unwell. Your memories show you as both a wyrm from Earth and a human superhero also from Earth," Weps continued mercilessly. "We found extensive damage to your psyche. Multiple personality disorder. Delusions of persecution. Paranoid fantasies about humans infiltrating Omnithean society, whatever that is."

  "I'm not crazy!" Emerald cried. "He did something to me! He... he pushed me into the Lazarus well! That's when I started to have these... thoughts of being someone else!"

  "Someone else?" Weps leaned forward, spectacles glinting. "You mean this... Ember person? The superhero?"

  "How do you..." Emerald's eyes widened. "Yes! Those memories... they're not mine! That jerk did something to me when he dunked me in the Genesis Pool!"

  "Genesis Pool," Weps repeated. "Magic that can print people, bring them back from death right? Another fascinating detail. Tell me, Miss Stratos, do you often have thoughts of being someone else? Of living other lives? Of Necromancer wells?”

  "No!" Emerald snarled. "Only since he... since that bloody human..."

  "Since this imaginary human pushed you into an imaginary pool that somehow gave you memories of being a... superhero," Weps finished. "Do you realize how mad that sounds?"

  "I'm telling you the truth!" Emerald strained against her chains. "Check my delver card! It has my stats, my ID, everything! I'm an Omnid from Earth, damn it! I came here through your stupid Arx Bank!"

  "Ah yes, your 'delver card'," Weps said coldly. "The one currently being used to purchase large quantities of real estate in Undertown? The one linked to multiple sales of an unknown magical substance?"

  "That's not me!" Emerald howled. "I don't... I didn't..."

  "There are witness-signed reports," Weps continued, ignoring her protests, "of you hiring mercenaries to detonate tunnels between Abystall dungeon and Undertown using unknown means. Deliberately spreading Duskbloom parasites across an entire district."

  "WHAT?! I swear I didn't do anything like that!" The dragon girl howled.

  "Causing mass panic, property damage, economic disruption," Weps continued listing off charges. "Tax evasion. Topaz Smuggling. Conspiracy to commit dungeon-spreading..."

  "IT WASN'T ME!" Emerald screamed, her chains rattling. "I've been locked in this cell! How could I possibly do any of that?!"

  "Through your well-paid intermediaries, obviously," Weps stated. "Our intelligence suggests you've assembled quite the criminal organization. It would help my case if you confessed the names of your associates."

  "What?! WHAT CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION!?" Emerald choked, her eyes filling with tears. "I don't have any criminal associates!!!"

  "Unfortunately, you're clearly disturbed," Weps continued as Emerald sobbed. "Suffering from severe delusions and paranoid fantasies. The amount of damage you have done to Undertown is incalculable. You've doomed thousands to their deaths through magical deprivation, devalued all currency stored in Undertown vaults."

  "Please," Emerald sobbed. "I'm telling you the truth. Just... just contact my father. Lord Stratos. He'll vouch for me! Abyss, talk to Quint! He's our delving Captain! He's working as temp substitute for Instructor Zalimar!"

  "Ah yes, this mysterious 'Lord Stratos' from another dimension," Weps said dryly. "Tell me, how exactly should we contact him? Through your imaginary gate inside the Arx Bank?"

  "Y-yes!" Emerald cried. "I... talk to that catgirl... ugh... what the Abyss was her knob name...?"

  "Gabriella?" Weps offered.

  "Yes!" Emerald seized on the name. "She knows about Earth! About the gate! About..."

  "Miss Matrosin has no knowledge of any interdimensional gates," Weps cut her off. "In fact, she claims you threatened her life when she refused to assist with your criminal enterprise."

  Something shattered in Emerald. How could the Banker Rep say that?! The dragon girl fell on her knees, bawling.

  "He's done it again. Somehow. he's... changed everything!" The dragon girl wailed.

  "Changed what?" The Scrutimancer asked. "Do these names mean anything to you? Sarah Nisteroff," Weps read from his notes. "Elek Rodrigov. Marcus Chennik. Thomas Willard. Petv Yavna. Olga Kcasnik. Datri Volk..."

  Emerald froze, her scales paling to an ashen gray.

  "I see that they do," the Scrutimancer said. "Why did you kill these children, Miss Stratos? Why did you lock Sarah Nisteroff outside of her Inn room at night fourteen years, six months and five days ago?

  "I... I didn't..." Emerald stammered, her voice cracking.

  The Kitlix flashed red.

  "Well, at least I caught this lie," the Scrutimancer smiled. "So, what did you do to Sarah Nisteroff?"