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He decided to simply wait. The others in the group seemed a little anxious by that decision, but no one protested--not even Voreese, which was a surprise. When the guards got there, Hector stepped forward.

"The Basilica is currently closed, and you are trespassing," said the foremost guard. His gear was very modern and tactical, making Hector wonder what he must've been thinking about their group's sets of medieval plate armor. "Please identify yourselves."

Did they really not know that already, Hector wondered? Perhaps they just wanted confirmation. "I am Hector Goffe of Atreya, serving under Ambassador David Lumenbel, Prince of Atreya." Wow, when did introducing himself become such a mouthful? "These are my friends. We'd like an audience with Senator Jacobson."

The guard in front paused. "One moment, please." Then he chattered inaudibly into the radio on his vest, waiting for a response, then answering, waiting, answering, back and forth for a while.

Hector remained patient and simply observed the group of guardsmen during the downtime. The auras were all calm, solid, but also very attentive. Watching him like a band of hawks.

Their eyes seemed to be especially keen on the large cube floating in orbit around him. Bartholomew hadn't seemed to give it any mind, but maybe he'd just been better at hiding it, because these guys were clearly wary of it.

The longer the Ceese remained in there, the more Hector questioned what he was going to do with it. Was he really gonna have to keep carrying it around the entire time he was here in Intar? And then take it all the way back to Warrenhold? Maybe he should've shown it to Bartholomew and gotten his opinion on it.

Bah. Well, it was fine for now. He could still sense the Ceese's aura in there. Totally subdued and docile. If it started getting agitated, that might become an issue, but so far, the thing hadn't moved a muscle.

In fact, it might've been playing dead. Hmm.

At length, the leading guard got back to him. "Alright, please follow me. The senator has agreed to meet you."

Damn, just like that? Hector wasn't about to argue, but it was certainly surprising. As the group started walking, a background thought process began to question just how surprised he should feel here. As in, should he be suspicious, right now? A senator he'd never met agreeing to a meeting so easily?

Yeah, maybe a little suspicious.

But in the meantime, he also intended to enjoy this little tour of the Basilica.

Page 4105

Sure, it was almost certainly the work of psychics, but what was the exact method of observance? And how far did the range extend? Could it be disrupted? Did Bartholomew have a direct line to these psychics, somehow? Was he actually psychic himself?

...Or were these unseen psychics actually just evading his senses?

Unsettling questions, the more Hector thought about them. As much as he'd been relying on these new senses lately, he didn't want to fall into the trap of thinking they were infallible--that no counters to them existed. Just because the Sparrows in Atreya didn't seem to be aware of them didn't mean that these Vanguardian Sparrows--or whoever else--would be unaware, too.

Before they'd left, however, Hector had asked after the possible locations of the senators that "Prince David" had mentioned. He'd been a bit reluctant to do that, figuring that Bartholomew probably not even answer, but to his surprise, the captain actually did.

He gave some rather precise directions to all three of them, in fact.

And now, with the new context of everything the little man had told them about the current state of the city, Hector had a much clearer picture of what his senses were telling him.

Senators Jacobson, Leoric, and Morris. Apparently, Hector had his pick of them, now. Between the powerful auras that he was sensing and the intel from Bartholomew, Hector felt like he could pinpoint each of their locations.

Shame he didn't know anything about their actual temperament, personalities, or reputation. He might've been able to make a truly informed decision here, rather than just picking one and hoping they weren't an insufferable asshole.

He decided on Jacobson. That was the one "Prince David" had mentioned first, after all.

The big cathedral in the center of the district was the destination. The Basilica of the Heavenly Ending.

Okay, maybe that had played a small role in Hector's decision, too. But they had to visit this place before leaving Andeyal, didn't they? Especially after seeing it from so high up in the air like that earlier. Hector would've been thinking about it all the way back to Atreya, if they didn't.

As soon as they touched down in the walled-off property, Hector sensed people beginning to head in their direction.

'Well, they know we're here,' advised Garovel publicly. 'Lotsa guards coming this way.'

Uncomfortable but still fine, Hector figured. He was pretty sure they'd be able to negotiate here.