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Hector's eyes narrowed inside his helmet. He'd opened up the faceguard so that his voice wouldn't have a metallic echo to it through the phone. "What CAN you tell me about the current situation in the city?"

<"Oh, not much, I'm afraid. Information has been a scarce commodity in here, much to my displeasure.">

Hmm. "I'd like to talk to Vito. Could you put him on?"

<"Ah, he is unavailable, at the moment.">

Hector's brow lowered. "Why?"

<"He was called away by one of the higher-ups around here.">

"...Called away? He's your bodyguard, Your Highness. No one has the authority to call him away except you."

<"...Hmm. Well, when you put it like that, it does seem a bit odd, doesn't it? But I believe they wanted his help in the defense of the fortress. He proved himself quite the asset in saving multiple lives, you know. It would not have felt right to hold him back just for my sake.">

"Even so, he shouldn't have left your side. Especially without telling me."

<"Oh, no, no. Please, Lord Goffe. Don't tell me I've gotten the poor lad into trouble by telling you that. He left at my insistence.">

Garovel chimed in for a private word. 'Wow, this is even worse than I thought.'

Yes. Clearly, something was wrong, but it seemed not much was going to be accomplished in conversation with the prince until Hector was able to meet him face to face. Then, at least, he might be able to learn something from the man's aura.

But before giving up entirely here, Hector had a suspicion that he wanted to pursue. It would require taking quite the direct approach, though. Would that be worth the risk?

After mulling it over across multiple thought processes for a few more seconds and reviewing his own rough guesses about what might really be going on here, he decided to give it a shot.

"Prince David... you wouldn't happen to be under someone's psychic influence, right now, would you?"

There came a very long pause.

<"Excuse me? Psychic influence? What do you mean?">

Unfortunately, there was a very real possibility that the man wasn't even playing dumb--that he was simply unaware of what was happening to him.

Or Hector could be mistaken, of course. Certainly wouldn't have been the first time. It could always be some other insanely weird thing that he'd never encountered before.

Before relenting, though, he wanted to make sure. "I know that probably sounded like a strange question, but I was just asking in case someone else out there happened to be listening."

Next page on the 21st

Thanks for your patience, guys. And for reading. And for definitely not being upset or disappointed in me. Phew. I was a little worried there for a second. You're so nice.

Page 4080

Hmm. Unfortunately, Hector couldn't sense the other man's aura through the phone. "There a problem, sir?"

<"No, I just wasn't expecting you so soon. I wish you had informed me when you departed. It may be difficult for me to obtain entry for you into Livingston on such short notice.">

"Why is that? The place is open to the public. I checked."

<"Normally, yes, but at the moment, the building is in lockdown. Only exempted personnel are allowed to come or go, and I fear I do not qualify. Not without a bit more time to make my case, at least.">

"...This lockdown wouldn't have anything to do with the massive amounts of people roaming the streets in a trance, would it?"

<"Ah, so you've seen them, then. Yes, I've been hearing about them and assumed there was some connection, but I cannot say for sure.">

"What has the local news been saying about them?" said Hector. "I've been checking online, but I haven't seen any mention of this yet."

<"Indeed, news agencies are noticeably quiet about it. From what I've heard, it is being treating as something of a contagion. So perhaps anyone who gets close enough to try to report on it simply ends up in a trance themselves.">

"Hmm. But that wouldn't stop people from catching video footage from afar."

<"I suppose it would depend on how far away the contagion is able to reach. ">

"It also wouldn't stop other people from noticing something off remotely. Lots of suspiciously unanswered calls and texts, for example."

<"Mm. Well, it also just started. So perhaps it may take a while for people elsewhere to learn what is going on. Even we still do not know, after all."

"When exactly did it start? Do you know?"

<"I, um. Good question. Less than a day ago, I suppose.">

Technically, that tracked. It wasn't very long ago that Hector had last spoken to the prince, so if this had been going on the whole time, it would've been extremely strange for the man to have not mentioned it.

Vito Sebolt's report had mentioned something, though.

"Wasn't there a case of mass hysteria going on here?" said Hector. "This whole thing seems different to that. One might even argue... that it's the exact opposite to that, actually."

<"Mass hysteria? Ah, did Vito tell you about that? Yes, I believe that was indeed happening until a short while ago, but the situation has apparently changed.">