[quote]"I suggest we use my family's mansion as a starting point. It's fairly central to the city as my father is one of the primary Rune Mages of Periphery. There are also several exits and it has a decent level of security, so I don't think it's likely that the Grit have entered much more than the grounds. We could all move to where we need to fairly quickly from there."

“Do you think we could use it to keep the people we restore safe as well?” She asked Vincent. Her mind then started to think about how many that would be. “At least to begin with before we could move them somewhere safer?”

"I think--uh, Vince, right?--Vince makes a good point.  We, um, we don't know what else the Grit have out there that--that hasn't been unleashed yet, but I want to be somewhere safe before we head to the mines.  I think--I think we all do."

"They were right, you know.  The top shits on everyone below and we're supposed to think of it as a little rainstorm.  My parents are dead because of you people."

Silence.  Moth realized who he had spoken to and stared at his boots. "Sorry."

"Whatever you lot want to do, I'm with you a hundred percent. Although I would ask that we move quickly, the faster we can get into and secure the mansion, the faster we can have a rest and go investigate the mines."[/quote]

The Queen's eyes remained steady on Moth's downturned face; the image of his fiery glare was burned into her mind. It was the flash of emotion that she'd dreaded since she became aware of the experiments -- since the lies and the failures. She imagined the glare of all of Periphery in his face. "I don't defend what has happened," she said steadily. "I don't claim innocence. But I believe your family is alive, or at least able to be saved."

Vincent, meanwhile, had touched the place of the mansion on the sigil on the wall. The streets of the map glowed blue, then white; a swirl of liquid shimmered, radiating out from the central spire. The floating stones throughout the cavern gleamed a little brighter, a gentle blossoming hue that glittered in reflection on the craggy stone walls.

"You're Vincent DeMoore," the Queen said in recognition, mild and curious. A small smile glinted on her pale face. "I feel better knowing someone of your experience will be accompanying this expedition."

The portal rippled and opened wide -- immediately Roy stepped through it to check the other side before any of the humans would be allowed to pass. The portal sloshed and swirled in his wake, then smoothed to a watery shimmer.

The Queen extended one arm and tapped on a metallic bracelet, which detached from her wrist with a click. It looked like an old-fashioned holographic band, such as the type most people wore more than five years ago -- ancient in terms of technology -- but this one had rows of tiny sigils etched into the metallic surface that had never been seen before.

Confidently, the Queen approached Berry and indicated with a gesture that she should hold out her arm, so the Queen could fasten the band around her wrist. Four sigils glowed brighter than the rest. The Queen invited Berry to touch the first one. A holographic map of the city appeared above Berry's arm, with a red dot over the central spire. Berry's location. Tapping again would zoom in, and touching the hologram itself could reposition the map.

The second sigil brought up masses of pink dots on the map. "Those are city folk," the Queen explained. All of them were static.

The third sigil added blue dots to the map. There was a seething cluster of them against the North wall, and more blue dots separating and moving slowly through the streets. "Grit," the Queen said solemnly.

The last sigil brought up larger green dots that were scattered evenly throughout the city. "Those are portals that will bring you back here," said the Queen. "The robots will prepare them for activation."

The hologram showed that Vincent's mansion was entirely empty of Grit, but Roy was making a thorough check to be sure. There was no telling whether the grit's life signature would change after it ate a soul -- they couldn't take any chances.

"Will you show them the way?" the Queen asked of Berry, confident in her decision. Vincent needed to focus on sigils and planning; Liam seemed to be the defender of the group; Maria would be preoccupied with keeping everyone's mental states in a positive light, and Moth's emotions seemed a bit unstable to be given such responsibility for the moment. Berry, however, had a clear head on her shoulders, and the Queen trusted her immediately.

Roy returned through the portal, which rippled around him. His eyes flickered and flashed. "All clear!" He went back to the mansion again to await further orders.

The Queen watched as the others began to traverse through the portal, but she approached Moth before he could follow. "You work for that accounting firm, don't you? Does your calculator still work?" she watched him carefully until he could confirm that it did. "The rune that you need will be filed under [i]imbuement[/i], called Ergo. It will return souls to their bodies. Please also keep an eye on the power grids; they're down now, but a return of power could be beneficial." She stepped back to allow him to follow the others.

Liam was last to approach, and the Queen was waiting for him with a bag of what looked like large marbles. She handed him the bag by the drawstring. "These are a sort of smoke bombs that are harmless to humans but should stop Grit in their tracks." Her mouth set to a slightly worried line. "I say [i]should[/i] because they're untested. Please take care. This is all I have."

With that she stepped back, and the remaining robots followed Liam through the portal, their laser guns held at ready.

On the other side, all was quiet and dark. The electricity had blown, and all the mechanisms and comforts of Vincent's home hung silent. The city had never been so quiet.

In the distance, the echo of hammering and booming was the only indication that the Grit were still tearing at the Wall.