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Roman was getting fed up, but not with Voreese. This was just business as usual. No, he was getting annoyed with this search. All these damn stones looked identical. He decided to try pushing on some of them at random, since there were no discernible marks or clues anywhere.

‘Did you see something?’ said Voreese.

‘Nope,’ said Roman. ‘But I figure, if there’s a secret or something, then maybe it’s so secret that there are no visible hints. Maybe you’ve just gotta know the exact right spot to press.’

‘That’d be a pain in the ass for a normal person to remember, unless they were using it all the time.’

‘Or unless they had a reaper to remember for them.’

‘It sure would help if I could sense through these walls.’

‘That would make Warrenhold much less secure, though.’

‘Yeah, yeah. Stasya knew what she was doing.’

‘Do you ever get claustrophobic in this place?’ said Roman, still trying different stones as he hovered along the length of the chamber. ‘It must feel way different for you compared to being up on the surface, right? Where you can sense stuff in all directions?’

‘Claustrophobic? Nah. But you are right that it’s quite different. Wouldn’t surprise me if some other reapers found this place very uncomfortable. Me, though, I’ve come to find it quite cozy. Nice ‘n safe.’

‘Hmm. S’pose it helps that these walls are borderline unbreakable.’

‘It sure does.’

‘Has nobody managed to punch a hole through one yet?’

‘Not that I know of,’ said Voreese. ‘But I did see Hector testing them on his own the other day. I don’t think he was doing tests with brute force, though.’

‘What kind of tests was he doing, then?’

‘I didn’t actually ask him. Didn’t want to bother him.’

‘Didn’t want to--? Excuse me? Were you unwell? Had you just seen some flying pigs? Had Hell frozen over?’

‘Hah. Actually, I just kind of enjoyed watching him from afar. Seeing what he was getting up to all on his own. You can learn a thing or two about someone by observing them when they think nobody is around.’

‘Oh, so you were stalking him.’

‘I was silently and respectfully observing him! Nothing weird or creepy about it!’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘I mean, are you not worried about him at all?’ said Voreese. ‘That battle with Banda Toro was no fuckin’ joke. I wouldn’t be surprised if it had gotten to him a bit. Psychologically, I mean.’