At that moment, Freyr saw 595 jump from the cab of the leading troop carrier. The Agent flexed her shoulders and slowly cracked her knuckles as a dozen bulky troopers filed past her. When she saw Freyr looking, 595 blew a theatrical kiss before grabbing a small container of dark red clay from her suit. She watched distastefully, transfixed, as the Agent gathered some of the mixture on her fingers and then smeared it carefully down her face in a disturbing warpaint pattern. Why did this woman, supposedly a government employee, engage in such an archaic practice? 

Freyr thought quickly how she could alert the Rothians of her plan without being detected.

“I don’t see the problem, Datius. We have the technology to collaborate remotely-” Andersen motioned to the massive holo-table the Rothian was standing on, in miniature. “And you’ll be meeting up in person once the expedition starts. It’s only temporary, you understand.” Her tone was cordial, diplomatic, and made it clear the matter was closed for her. “I’m looking forward to seeing this thing in action!” Andersen motioned to the mobile lab next. “I hope it justifies the effort of getting it from storage at such short notice.”

“Thank you Captain, we all appreciate your dedication. But I must recommend we keep the number of bodies that enter the sim down to a minimum.” Freyr answered hastily, eyeing up the panoply of military personnel taking positions by the harnesses. “Each of them will require extra energy for the entity to generate, and from what we know so far, will likely attract more attention to us.”

The Captain watched her levelly. “Outremer is now giving this mission the gravity we know it deserves. I’m putting Lieutenant Kwanele in command of my marines and the Sacred Band. They will be responsible for the protection of your team and Agent 595.” Freyr felt her cheeks flush. “Captain, if we run into trouble, we can all extract before people get hurt. Adding this protection may have the opposite effect!"